Judicial and Prosecutorial Cynicism: Internal Rules of the Justice System

4.2.12 WC: 191694 some of his fellow judges, especially Warren Burger. Sparks would fly and Bazelon generally ended up in dissent, but he had made his point. Years later, in my first popular book, The Best Defense, I summarized what I had first seen in Judge Bazelon’s chambers and had then experienced in several cases I had litigated as a practicing lawyer. I called my summary “The Rules of the Justice Game:” Rule I: Almost all criminal defendants are, in fact, guilty. Rule II: All criminal defense lawyers, prosecutors and judges understand and believe Rule ke Rule III: It is easier to convict guilty defendants by violating the Constitution than by complying with it, and in some cases it is impossible to convict guilty defendants without violating the Constitution. Rule IV: Almost all police lie about whether they violated the Constitution in order to convict guilty defendants. Rule V: All prosecutors, judges and defense attorneys are aware of Rule IV. Rule VI: Many prosecutors implicitly encourage police to lie about whether they violated the Constitution in order to convict guilty defendants. Rule VII: All judges are aware of Rule VI. Rule VIII: Most trial judges pretend to believe police officers who they know are lying. Rule IX: All appellate judges are aware of Rule VII, yet many pretend to believe the trial judges who pretend to believe the lying police officers. Rule X: Most judges disbelieve defendants about whether their constitutional rights have been violated, even if they are telling the truth. Rule XI: Most judges and prosecutors would not knowingly convict a defendant who they believe to be innocent of the crime charged (or a closely related crime). Rule XII: Rule XI does not apply to members of organized crime, drug dealers, career criminals, or potential informers. Rule XIII: [Almost] Nobody really wants justice. The seeds of my career as a criminal lawyer were planted deeply into fertile soil during my clerkship. So were the seeds of my career as an academic who focused, early in my years at Harvard, on the relationship between law and the social sciences, especially psychiatry and psychology. 57 HOUSE_OVERSIGHT_017144