The Best Defense Alan M. Dershowitz
Carmela Stadtler
Alan Dershowitz has been in the news lately and I've found myself wondering about his past career, in particular his part in the 2008 Jeffrey Epstein plea deal. To be blunt, the plea deal was a fucking joke and a huge failure of justice. My question is this; as a defense attorney, was Dershowitz acting as a "good" or competent lawyer? Was getting his client this deal a major positive accomplishment? Should other defense lawyers see this as a success and emulate him? My understanding is that our adversarial system means defense attorneys should always advocate for the best interest of their clients even if they are guilty but is there a limit to that idea?
Furthermore, Dershowitz has always followed the legal philosophy that the best defense" is a good offense, and the press has dutifully taken note of his rhetorical and procedural salvos. As a defense counsel, he has often turned the tables on unwitting prosecutors, putting them on the defensive by challenging, often successfully, the constitutionality of their evidence against his client. Dershowitz's legal fast-breaks and penchant for courtroom theatrics have made him by far the best-known part-time practicing attorney in America.
Lawyers shouldn't be out to win popularity contests, but Dershowitz's grating nebbish image must have lost his some cases and persuasive appeal. The Best Defense's perfunctory jibes at press-conference attorneys seem to bely Dershowitz's own legal behavior. The contradiction muddles the issue of just whether "the best defense" in the genteel world of American law has a place for grand-standers like himself.
The human-rights advocates who criticized China, Russia, Saudi Arabia and the Taliban (when no one cared to hear it) are right: Freedom makes a nation stronger, truth drives out lies, and the free marketplace of ideas is the best defense against despotism.
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