The battle between good and evil
Whenever you mention good and evil the first thing that pops into a lot of people's minds is crime and criminals. After al, criminals are evil and the police and prosecutors are the good guys out to protect society. The whole criminal justice seems to focused on demonizing defendants and ignoring the fact that they are real people. That's not what I want to write about though; what I want to write about is the Massachusetts senate race - specifically, Martha Coakley.
I realize I'm a little late getting this to. I'm from Texas though, and my knowledge of Massachusetts is that its out east somewhere.
So what does a senate race have to do with criminal justice, and the battle between good and evil? Twenty years ago Coakley was involved in the prosecution of the Amirault family for child abuse. It turns out that the charges were instigated and conceived by the State. Everyone was convicted and sentenced to prison. Normally, that is the end of the most cases. Not so here, because the Amirault's lawyer, John Sultan wouldn't give up. He kept at it - probably without payment, and probably at great personal sacrifice. In the end, the case unraveled, and there was tremendous pressure from the public and the judiciary to do something about it.
Here comes the evil. Coakley didn't want to lose face entirely, so she placed Mr. Sultan in an impossible situation. She would agree to reduce the wife's sentence to time served if he would withdraw from representing the husband. Since Mr. Sultan was the only one fighting for them, I'm sure she thought that would be end of it. Mr. Sultan ultimately agreed - probably one of the most agonizing choices he ever had to make.
I wish I could say that's never happened before, but it has. Ms. Coakley had no problems in using another person to further her own career. After all, she was an important person. He was nothing more than a convicted defendant. I don't have the words to express how despicable I think that type of conduct is. So what was her punishment - a stellar career and possible a United States senate seat.
Prosecutors are quick to label defendants as sociopaths - someone who has no concern for others. Someone who is only concerned about themselves. How does that definition not apply to Ms. Coakley in this situation.
There was a battle between good and evil here - Mr. Sultan represented everything that is good about criminal defense lawyers; Ms. Coakley represented everything that is wrong with prosecutors. In my mind - evil won.
Thanks for the post. It's not everyday we're able to contemplate on how the gears of justice ultimately grind on people.