The Criminal Defense Dilemma

Here is Ilana Friedman, reflecting on the challenges in working in an imperfect system. She captures a central dilemma for criminal defense lawyers. Our cases are about our client's freedom. It can sound grandiose, but it is very powerful to stand at the portal between freedom and incarceration - and I don't mean that as a metaphor. Heavy steel doors, metal bars and secure facilities are part and parcel of the criminal defense lawyer's world.

Given what is at stake, we can be all the more frustrated with how imperfect the legal system is. We fight for our clients, but we do it within the bounds of the law and from within the system. In the end, we either believe in the system, or we live very cynical lives.

I think this is a central problem for lawyers and a particularly difficult one for criminal defense lawyers. That is why I think it is a very valuable for law students to have the opportunity to live the role for a semester and grapple with this and other powerful questions. Some will decide this is the right area for them and others will decide that criminal defense work, or criminal law is not for them, but all will have learned something very important about themselves and about the law.

 

Fordham, Law School, Clinical Legal Education, Law Clinic, Pro Bono Work, Legal Education, Legal Pedagogy, Teaching Law, Student Lawyers, Law Student

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