Micro-injustices
posted by Dan Filler
I recently finished David Feige’s new book, Indefensible: One Lawyer’s Journey into the Inferno of American Justice. I read it both because Feige is a former colleague of mine at the Bronx Defenders and because I’m always searching for materials that give law students a more realistic view of criminal law than, say, Kadish and Shulhofer, Criminal Law and its Processes (7th ed.) (For my juvenile justice course, I’ve settled on Edward Humes’s, No Matter How Loud I Shout: A Year in the Life of Juvenile Court.
Indefensible is an account of a day in the life of a Bronx public defender,with narratives of Feige’s professional career and other cases weaved throughout. It certainly captures many practical challenges of a public defender. In the Bronx, like Feige, I found much of my life – and a vast portion of my energy – dedicated to appearing in the right courtroom at the right time. On a given day, I might have had 15 cases in ten courtrooms; Feige fairly describes the difficulty of managing this chaotic calendar. He also nicely captures some strategies PD’s use to win over their suspicious clients.. Feige (improperly) delivers a fresh pack of cigarettes to a recently arrested client, winning him over instantly. (You wouldn’t show up at Aunt Marilyn’s house empty handed, would you? Well then…)
Feige also does a nice job of bringing out what I’d call the the micro-injustices in a criminal system. Most scholarship is focused on macroscopic issues: race disparities, over-incarceration, the failure of deterrence and overpunishment, and the like. But for the practicing lawyer, the system systematically treats all participants poorly and, in doing so, creates injustice on an hourly basis. There are defendants who wait all day, only to be sent home with a continuance at 5pm. Pre-trial detainees awakened at 5am and brought down to the courthouse for the convenience of a lawyer who doesn’t want to travel to the jail, but who needs to visit for 2 minutes. People who have warrants issued for their arrest because their lawyers never bother to listen to phone messages. And of course the innocent defendants who plead guilty simply to avoid missing one more day of work as the case is continued ad infinitum. Though Feige focuses mostly on defendants, they’re not the only ones who suffer. For example, many complaining witnesses sit for hours awaiting cases that never go to trial. This is the cost of mass criminalization on the cheap.
Criminal defense lawyers can be cocky SOB’s, sometimes, and periodically one gets that vibe from Feige. But his account is pretty true to life. And Feige – a curious mix of cowboy and social worker – is a lawyer worth emulating. Mostly.
June 20, 2006 at 12:57 am
Posted in: Criminal Law
Print This Post
Responses (4)
Andrea - June 20, 2006 at 9:40 am
That’s great you have your class read the Humes book. My roommate lent it to me and it was fascinating (though a bit dispiriting). Nice to see a prof embrace some quality popular nonfiction. I’ll check out Indefensible.
Dissent - June 20, 2006 at 10:12 am
Side note: Feige has an op-ed in today’s L.A. Times re Hudson vs. Michigan:
Shredding a constitutional protection that isn’t even used
John Steele - June 20, 2006 at 10:24 am
Here’s another endorsement for No Matter How Loud I Shout. I use excerpts for teaching legal ethics and recommend it to my students. In general, using high-quality, non-fiction accounts of lawyering makes for happy, informed, and engaged students.
phred - June 21, 2006 at 7:53 am
Thanks for the recs. Any other “high-quality, non-fiction accounts of lawyering” folks recommend (e.g., Harr’s _A Civil Action_)? I’m always looking for a good read for myself as well as my students.
Leave a Reply