Dr. Hannibal Lecter, U.S. Prison System

Whether Harris (Lecter's creator) meant to or not, he has given us a potent symbolic figure for our criminal justice system - a schizophrenic institution whose endtrail, the penitentiary, does as much harm to the common good as it does to preserve it.

To see what I'm getting at, allow me to play a little mind-game first. Call it the Evil Dr. Lecter exercise, where the objective is to wreak havoc on society by creating as many crime victims as possible.

First, a few observations: It appears that most people define justice as making sure that those people get what they deserve. And, according to conventional wisdom, criminals deserve to be punished.

A few other simple observations: Most criminals are never caught. Convicted criminals are only that minority of law-breakers who are either stupid enough, brazen enough, poor enough or unlucky enough to get caught. And, finally and most importantly: The majority of convicted criminals will eventually be released.

Now, playing the role of evil bad guy, I would try to distract people so they don't see how ridiculous it is to believe "the crime problem" will be greatly affected by what we do with the minority of criminals who are actually caught. But with so many business-as-usual politicians muddying the media trying to look "tough on crime," I'm covered on that front.

Playing an all-powerful Dr. Lecter, I would devise a penal system where prisons serve as a cages for convicted criminals (people who already feel cheated by society) and then I strip them of what little bit of human dignity they might still possess, treating them like bad children in a laboratory rat maze.

Then, because "they deserve it," I would house violent and nonviolent offenders together, deny them the right to vote and make it as difficult as possible for any of "them" to get an education or job training so they can be left to teach each other the tricks of the trade. You know, a real crime university.

But when all of the non-lifers get released is where my evil plan all comes together. Uneducated, jobless and treated as a moral leper by "respectable people," I have helped to exponentially increase the chances that the ex-con will commit more crimes, thus creating many, many more future victims.

Of course, no evil scheme can work without a little help from good Christians - true believers that have yet to digest the words of their Savior who said things like "judge not...(and)...be like God who makes the sun shine on the just and the unjust." What did the religious call for? "Crucify him!"

In my evil plot, I wouldn't want Christians to start thinking that maybe Jesus wasn't so much teaching ye shall do this or ye shall do that, but merely making an observation that if ye want thy life and thy society ye live in to work as it was designed, discern with empathy...but "judge not."

Wait a minute. That was just a game. But what I just described is the system we actually have. And that's more frightening than Dr. Lecter.
- Sean Gonsalves, common dreams news center; cape code times, june 2003

Law Schools teach counsel to become attorneys and with the instructions to "take control of your client". When they do you have lost much of your ability to defend or enforce your Rights. The Judges can then disregard your rights and blame it on your attorney. Of course - you are the one that sits on death row in payment for their mistake while they are hired by more fools or get more "court appointments" to lead others to the gallows. Increasingly on arrogant elitist can get into or come out of institutions, called law schools (sic) where de facto "Titles of Nobility" are sold and what is really learned is the Practice of Law to enable them to circumvent the supreme Law of the Land in the course of plundering their clients and the public at large.
- Ed, lawwork

A police officer recently told me of his thankfulness for the drug war as it keeps him employed. He also told me I should be glad as the drug war indirectly provides income for me as well. Although he had a point, I responded that I would be just fine without the drug war as I would simply defend people charged with "real" crimes. He responded that I would have difficulty making a living solely defending people who commit "real" crimes because the police don't apprehend many of those.
- shelly waxman, Freedom Lawyers of America

"Law is the only learned profession in which one is ethically obliged to hurt people"
"The more able and experienced a lawyer, the greater the chance that he or she will achieve a miscarriage of justice"
"Aspiring lawyers raised in psychologically healthy families face more obstacles in law and their careers than those raised in dysfunctional families."
- Walt Bachman, Law V. Life; Four Directions Pr; (1995)

We do not live in a democracy in the USA. We are a form of republic, a representative republic. We mere citizens do not vote on legislative issues, we have representation. If we disapprove of the representation, we elect others. To say we live in a democracy is a fallacy. Most of us do not have the time or expertise to study law necessary for good government. Hopefully, our representative does if we are careful.
- vaccine, 2003

Sometimes a person who's gotten part of his education in the school of hard knocks is in a better position to work with clients who need some guidance (as well as advocacy) in getting their acts together, than at attorney who's had a comfortable life and has never seen life from the client's perspective. He also understands what it's like on the other side of the desk.
- Eliyahu, paralegalcity, 2003