tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5945843206427351559.post7912942370841036799..comments2024-01-25T14:51:13.377-05:00Comments on Gamso - For the Defense: A Voice for InnocenceJeff Gamsohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09869425697771419546noreply@blogger.comBlogger3125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5945843206427351559.post-65988361793677758472011-03-30T11:38:33.825-04:002011-03-30T11:38:33.825-04:00Come on, Jeff. You can do better than that. Inno...Come on, Jeff. You can do better than that. Innocence MAY be an "extra tragedy"?<br /><br />Take your time. I get over here often enough.John Reganhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14174895768769300686noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5945843206427351559.post-72405088508183376632011-03-30T10:18:37.944-04:002011-03-30T10:18:37.944-04:00Innocence matters to the criminal justice system, ...Innocence matters to the criminal justice system, of course. It undercuts whatever legitimacy the system has. And it matters, of course, to the wrongly convicted individuals. And it matters (in some cases) to public safety as it can leave guilty and sometimes dangerous people out on the streets.<br /><br />And it matters to public perception, which is why it's a useful talking point for abolitionists. <br /><br />Innocence matters to criminal defense lawyers, too, at least to experienced ones. When we have it, or have evidence of it, it becomes a practical issue in the case. And we mostly hate representing innocent people.<br /><br />All that said, does innocence matter to me in the role of abolitionist? No. It's wrong for the state to execute. Always. It's not more wrong to execute the wrong guy than the right guy. It's still wrong.<br /><br />There may be an extra tragedy associated with killing the innocent guy whether by mistake or calculation, and the innocence issue may be a powerful reason that a court or a governor might undo a death sentence, but those are practical considerations. They don't have a thing to do with the fundamental wrong of the state engaging in murder.Jeff Gamsohttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09869425697771419546noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5945843206427351559.post-32894846779478600842011-03-30T09:58:25.718-04:002011-03-30T09:58:25.718-04:00Yes, visiting people in prison is a pain in the as...Yes, visiting people in prison is a pain in the ass. But I was struck by your statement: "We convict innocent people. With regularity."<br /><br />Let me be argumentative for a minute. I thought you have said elsewhere that it doesn't matter to you whether a client is innocent or guilty. But now all of a sudden it does. <br /><br />So is the conviction of the innocent, which shouldn't matter to you any more than the conviction of the guilty, just an emotional tactic for your abolitionist position?<br /><br />You can see how someone might think that, right? Especially people who are prone to being politically manipulative, like judges.<br /><br />Now, if you're asking me - which I know you aren't, but humor me - rather than address this with strained arguments about how in the one case you are speaking as a "professional" and in the other you are more like the unwashed, I suggest you reconsider your statements that innocence doesn't matter. You don't really believe it anyway. Nobody does.John Reganhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14174895768769300686noreply@blogger.com