The Truth About Lawyers

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The Truth About Lawyers

Society often looks down upon lawyers. This is because lawyers have a long past of not being the most honest people. A lot of attorneys use many deceptive practices when they are presenting a case in court. A lawyer will need to do this when they are defending a criminal who is either thought or known to be guilty of a crime. Lawyers will sometimes, but not usually, lie to help their client. Many more will present a 'false defense' to defend their client. "...A false defense is an attempt to 'convince the judge or jury that facts established by the state and known to the attorney to be true are not true, or that the facts known to the attorney to be false or true'"(Mitchell 18). Although many people think attorneys should do whatever it takes to defend their client, lawyers should be prohibited from presenting a false case.

Citizens of the United States are innocent until proven guilty. Every person charged with a crime will need a trial to find whether they are innocent or guilty. They are also given the right to have a lawyer whether or not they can afford it. The lawyers we assign to the cases have to defend their client whether the person is innocent or not (Subin 5). If a lawyer knows his client is guilty but his client chooses to plead not guilty, the lawyer must do what the client requests. "...The lawyer is not to consider whether the client's cause is right or wrong . . . " (Katsh 2). This helps people to receive the trial the Constitution promises them. "A false defense may be necessary to preserve the rigorous process by which guilt is determined" because, if a false defense was not used, some people would never get a trial because no lawyers would defend them (Subin 13). Th...

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...997: 7-10. SIRS Knowledge Source. Internet. 31. Oct. 2000. Available http://sks.sirs.com/cgi-bin/hst-cl929-s11492wrdtype=ART&artno=017244.

Macdonald, A. M., ed. Webster's Dictionary: New Edition. New York: Pyramid Communications, Inc., 1972.

Mitchell, John B. "Reasonable Doubts Are Where You Find Them: A Response to Professor Subin's Position on the Criminal Lawyer's 'Different Mission.'" Georgetown Journal of Legal Ethics. Vol. 1. 1987. Rpt. in Taking Sides: Legal Issues. Ed. M. Ethan Katsh. Guilford, Connecticut:The Dushkin Publishing Group, Inc., 1995.

Subin, Harry I. "The Criminal Lawyer's 'Different Mission' Reflections on the 'Right' to Present a False Case," Georgetown Journal of Legal Ethics. Vol. 30. 1987. Rpt. in Taking Sides: Legal Issues. Ed. M. Ethan Katsh. Guilford, Connecticut: The Dushkin Publishing Group, Inc.,1995.

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