“why would any sane person want to devote his life to trying to spring hundreds, maybe even thousands, of felons?”
For the love of money is the root of all evil: which while some coveted after, they have erred from the faith, and pierced themselves through with many sorrows.— 1 Timothy 6:10
Exactly
I’ll see your Timothy 6:10, and raise you Amendments V & VI to the U.S. Constitution.
In this area all Freepers should go there but for the grace.... In the world today you can stand accused of the most heinous crimes in the blink of an eye. They can even take you away and lock you up with no bail. They do not even have to tell you what you are charged with or let anyone know where you are. Many criminal defense attorney's are not high profile and make surprisingly small amounts of $$$$.
I don’t know about that. There’s a lot better ways to make money than as a criminal defense attorney. Most of them don’t even make that much.
I do not practice criminal law.
However, once early in my career I was court appointed to represent a mother of four who was arrested for a felony (heroin possession). She was a junkie. Her boyfriend was a dealer.
I worked with the ADA to get her into a 6-month drug rehab program where she would have regular visits with her kids while she got clean.
Whether it worked, I don’t know. I do know that the alternative of tossing her in prison and shoving the kids permanently in foster care wasn’t much of an option either.
As an aside, most criminal defense lawyers make very little money in comparison to their civil counterparts. My billable hour rate is more than double what my friends who practice criminal defense law charge. It isn’t about the money for them.
I do believe most are in it for the money and shot at fame.