I don't know how you sleep at night!

 If the law is not strong enough to protect the humblest and weakest citizen it deserves the contempt of all. Clarence Darrow 

Many, many years ago, I received a standing ovation after telling members of the Criminal Defense Attorneys of Michigan (CDAM), “You are the backbone of our justice system!” I made that statement, realizing that a member of the HFP Board of Directors was wincing. His son had just married a young woman who made a career of defending criminals, and he boldly told her, “I don’t know how you sleep at night!” 

As a young broadcast journalist, in my first career, I felt some of the same emotions as our board member. How does one defend these creeps? 

Decades later, I befriended a poor Black guy sitting in the Michigan prison system, accused of a crime he did not commit. His defense attorney, and I use the term loosely, had a reputation of falling asleep in the courtroom. Appointed by the State of Michigan to make sure that Maurice H. Carter would receive a fair trial, defense attorney James Jesse never even met with his client until the morning of the trial. Partly due to his inept handling of this case, Maurice spent the next 29 years behind bars. 

That experience prompted me to change my mind about criminal defense attorneys. 

I raise the issue this week because of a recent newspaper article. MLive writer Ryan Boldrey’s fine feature was on the front page of MLive Sunday newspapers over the weekend. Boldrey interviewed two Kalamazoo defense attorneys who, of course, constantly face that same question: “How do you sleep at night?” 

I especially appreciated the response of lawyer Caleb Grimes. Quoting reporter Boldrey: 

“What keeps Grimes up at night isn’t whether a killer walks free if the prosecutor can’t prove their case---it’s the truly innocent client facing life behind bars if he doesn’t do his job well. ‘I have an opportunity to do something incredible,’ he said, ‘to make sure that doesn’t happen to them.’” 

I encourage you to find the story and read it, and I commend Boldrey for a bold piece of journalism. 

There was one other quote in the MLive story that hit me, and that came from the second attorney who had been interviewed, Don Sappanos. He accurately expressed sensitivity regarding racial disparity in our judicial system: “I’ve seen plenty of courtrooms with a Black defendant, white attorney, white prosecutor, white officer, white judge and 12 white jurors. I’ve never seen the opposite.” 

That’s the description of the Maurice Carter trial. 

That’s what led to my 9-year battle for Maurice. 

That’s what led to the formation of HUMANITY FOR PRISONERS.

That’s one issue that keeps me awake at night!