Annotated Bibliography Summary

Rhea Sharma

Smith, Abbe. "Why defense lawyers defend killers and rapists." Pittsburgh Post-Gazette.

N.p., 04 Aug. 2013. Web. 28 Feb. 2017.

In her article Why Defense Lawyers Defend Killers and Racists Abbe

Smith discusses the reasoning behind how and why lawyers decide to defend

criminals who have committed horrendous crimes. Smith references cases that

were heavily featured in the news so that the examples put things in perspective

for readers. Smith writes, Why choose to represent a man accused of turning the

Boston Marathon finish line into a warzone? She also compares lawyers to

doctors and nurses who also dont have a choice in their patients. For example the

nurses who treated the Boston marathon bomber didnt have a choice and neither

did the public defenders assigned to him. What Smith does question are the

defense lawyers who decided to represent the bomber by choice. Smith argues

that lawyers dont necessarily condone the crimes their clients have committed

but rather that everyone deserves a defense in their criminal trial. Most of the

clients that have committed awful crimes that Smith defends feel guilt and

remorse for their crimes and have already had a lengthy jail sentence and are just

hoping to be released on parole.

One quote that really stuck out to me was near the end of the article where

Smith says That unwritten law still motivates criminal lawyers, along with the

knowledge that none of us would want to be defined by the very worst thing we
ever did. This was intriguing to me because it puts lawyers in the shoes of

criminals and shows that they are people too. Just because someone has

committed a crime doesnt mean they dont deserve the best lawyer. Another

quote that I really liked was We represent those people because we can always

find aspects of them that represent us. This quote furthers the concept that

criminals are ordinary people and it is their constitutional right to representation

just like the rest of us.

The article comes from the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, which is a trusted

newspaper and is written by a criminal lawyer that has over 30 years of

experience. The author has served as both a criminal defense lawyer and a law

professor. The author seems very knowledgeable about the topic and also seems to

have represented a wide variety of clients. She consistently cites past cases of hers

that have helped her in becoming a better and fairer lawyer.

This article really opened my eyes to the fact that criminal lawyers dont

have to condone their clients actions in order to represent them and its more

about the fact that people shouldnt sacrifice their entire life for one little mistake.

It also fits into my project and furthers the point that guiltiness doesnt determine

whether or not a lawyer chooses to represent a client. It also shows people who

have no experience in law that it isnt always black and white when it comes to

choosing clients.