Self-study
P1
Is it necessary for defense lawyers to believe that the clients they defend are innocent of the charges against them. ███
Question ·
Must defense lawyers believe in their clients’ innocence?
Legal Scholars ·
No
Lawyer's only job is to provide the best defense possible. It's not their job to judge their clients. Their job is to advocate for their clients.
P2
Critique (of Legal Scholars) ·
Lawyers have other obligations as well
Lawyers are officers of the court and hence have obligations (e.g., not lying) to the court.
Critique Continued ·
If a lawyer knows their client is guilty, then they should not deny this
They should not attempt to prove their innocence. Instead, make the best case for the client and argue for leniency.
P3
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Critique Continued ·
Lawyer's obligation to the court and society ultimately benefits the defendant too
The defendant deserves a lawyer who truly believes in their innocence. Lawyers can simply refuse cases where they don't believe in their clients' innocence.
Passage Style
Critique or debate
2.
Which one of the following ████ ██████████ █████████ ███ ████████ ████████ ██████ ███ ███████ ██████████ ██████████ ██
a
confident that it ███████ ███████ ███████ ██ ███████ █████ █████████ ████████████████ ██ ███ █████ ███ ██ ███████
Not supported, because there are not any “competing” responsibilities between the court and society. There are competing responsibilities to the defendant and to the court/society; but that’s not what (A) says.
b
certain that it ████████ ███████ ███████ ████ ████████████ ███████ ████ ████ ████ ██ ██ ██████
Not supported, too strong. The author argues that this obligation should cause lawyers to alter their arguments or representation of a client, but there’s no suggestion that the obligation will “prevent” lawyers from representing clients known to be guilty.
c
satisfied that it █████ ███████ ███████ ██ ███████ ███ ████████ █████ ██ █ ████
Not supported. There’s no indication that the obligation helps lawyers uncover facts. Although lawyers should analyze the facts carefully, that doesn’t suggest the obligation to the defendant and to society helps discover facts.
d
pleased that it ████ ███ █████████ ████ ██████ ███████ ██████████ ████ ██ ███████ ███████
Not supported. The author believes this obligation should influence how lawyers defend clients. There’s no suggestion that the obligation won’t interfere with common defense strategies.
e
convinced that it ████ ███ █████████ █ ████████ ██ ████████ ███ ███████ ███████
Supported, because the author uses the two-fold obligation as part of an argument for how lawyers should try to take into account both obligations. In fact, the author thinks you can