In Defense of Defenders

While watching Hannity & Colmes on Fox News last evening (no link, couldn't find a transcript), I was aghast to witness both the conservative Hannity and the liberal Colmes lambaste a criminal defense attorney for - well, doing his job. More specifically, he's apparently doing his job too well and has had some success in getting accused pedophiles off the hook.

H&C tore into the attorney for "making the system work for the guilty". HELLO?? Our system is supposed to work especially for the guilty. In this country the burden of proof is on the state, not on the defendant, which is as it should be - if the state cannot make its case to sufficiently convince a jury of a fellow citizen's guilt, that's just too bad. Sometimes scumbags go free, but when this happens it should serve to motivate law enforcement and prosecutors to do a better job in accumulating evidence legally and presenting a more compelling case next time around. If the state starts to cut corners to imprison the guilty (rather, those believed to be guilty), it puts all of us at risk.

Criminal defense lawyers are all that stand between individual Americans and the unbridled police powers of the state, and I thank God that we have such dedicated professionals around to advocate for the accused - who are, at least in our justice system (are you listening, H&C?), entitled to the presumption of innocence.