Posted on 01/15/2005 4:12:09 PM PST by FormerACLUmember
Those two Long Island men who say they were arrested for telling lawyer jokes at a Nassau County courthouse (see yesterday's post) were soon deluged with offers by lawyers to represent them for free. Reports Newsday:
"Barbara Bernstein, executive director of the Nassau chapter of the New York Civil Liberties Union, said she found the arrests "bewildering" and she called the men yesterday to determine whether the organization could help. "It's just bewildering and preposterous that they should be arrested for telling lawyer jokes," Bernstein said. "What's the violation of law here?" (Zachary R. Dowdy, "Lawyers offer help after pair's anti-lawyer joke arrest", Newsday, Jan. 13). The two men, Harvey Kash, and Carl Lanzisera, have now accepted an offer of representation by radical attorney and New York radio personality Ron Kuby. ("Kuby takes jokers' case", Jan. 14).
Hah! Thanks for sending the link. It is kinda catchy....and upbeat. Never heard of that one before (now I'm embarassed for even thinking it was an ACDC song, lol).
I think it already has.
Sad. Isn't it?
The greatest problem I have with the legal system is the unearned megawindfall that goes to tort lawyers and the complete lack of legal representation available to the middle class.
I think that in the vain world these individuals live in, the Lawyer that started this is finding out that his invites were merely professional courtesy.
TT
Reminds me... why don't sharks eat lawyers? Professional courtesy.
These may be apocryphal, but even if accurate would not imply any lack of intelligence on the part of the lawyer asking them. After all, it has been said that a smart lawyer never asks in court a question to which he does not know the answer. The lawyer is asking questions not for his own benefit, but for that of the judge and/or jury.
Obviously the lawyer who asks a witness how old a 21-year-old is knows the answer. But from what I understand, trials are sort of like Jeopardy, where lawyers are supposed to put even facts in the form of a question. If the age of the person is relevant, a witness has to introduce it into the record. Although the lawyer's question may seem overly leading, I doubt it would be objected to unless there were some question about whether the witness would have known the age of the son without it.
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