I recently finished “Indefensible: One Lawyer’s Journey into the Inferno of American Justice” by David Feige, who worked as a public defender in the Bronx for nearly fifteen years. It is a fascinating account of his work and the stories of the clients he represents. Perhaps my favorite quote from the entire book is the following one. It describes just why being a public defender is so important, and I don’t think anyone could have described the essence of the job any better.
A little background first: At this point in the book, Feige is representing a client, Roger, who is charged with the murder of another man, Wale. Wale’s sister comes to court and makes a passionate statement about her brother’s lost life. This is Feige’s internal response to Wale’s sisters’ statement:
Yet touched as I was by her evident and heartfelt loss, when she finally turned away, surrounded by the sad comfort of a grieving family, I still understood why despite her very real pain and loss, I was standing right where I should have been. Because as deeply as I felt Wale’s sister’s anguish, I also felt, as acutely as ever, how desperately Roger and the rest of my clients – even the guilty ones – need protection from the punitive ravages of a vengeful world.
Wale’s sister had lost a loved one, and for that there was no excuse, but her victimization was hallowed, respected, and validated by the world around her. But without a proxy, there was no one to ameliorate Roger’s fate, no ears attuned to his claims for mercy or justice, and no one else to shield him from the life sentence or even the death penalty a justifiable angry sister might (were she able to) have imposed. And ultimately, protecting Roger – from a vindictive system fueled by grief and loss and anguish – ensuring that at least one person was there for him, actually felt good.
This perfectly sums up why we need public defenders. Even the guilty deserve someone fighting for them – someone who listens to them and treats them like a human being. These are the people cast out from society, left at the very bottom of the heap — without public defenders, who would fight for their rights?
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