Mum Judges Complicit in Injustice
March 09, 2006
I have often wondered whether a lot of "the system's" problems would cure themselves if judges would just start naming, in judicial opinions, prosecutors who act unethically and defense lawyers who perform ineffectively. In most cases even a saavy legal researcher has to do some serious squinting to learn the identities of the scoundrels-at-law.
Today, Decision of the Day has offered "Exhibit B"* that the answer is, Yes, lawyers who are afraid of being held to account for their misdeads will behave ethically. As the blogger explains:
The Department of Justice has come under fire from the courts of appeal for its handling of immigration cases, with the Seventh Circuit’s Judge Posner taking a leading role.... Thus, it was hardly surprising that when the petitioner in an immigration appeal drew a panel that included Judge Posner, the government decided to avoid another lashing by asking for a remand to the Board of Immigration Appeals.
Be sure to read the full post, here. The implication is that judges who continue to refuse to identify prosecutors who hide evidence and act unethically are in material cooperation with evil. As Edmund Burke might have said: All that is necessary for evil to flourish in the criminal system is for good judges to say nothing.
* "Exhibit A" is Judge Alex Kozinski's classic tongue-lashing of just about everyone, in U.S. v. Ramirez-Lopez (here). If that case name does not ring a bell, then be sure to read this article, and this article.