Mea Culpa
The purpose of this blog has always been to present issues related to aspects of the criminal justice system with the hope of stimulating debate or simply further thought on those issues. On several occasions I have attempted to do this by using "real-life" examples from my own experience. The problem is that despite using my best efforts to present the facts generically and without using real names, it is inevitable that some people in the local community can figure out exactly who the parties are. This is especially a problem when reporting juvenile cases, which are subject to much greater confidentiality than adult cases.
Not only is there a risk of breaching a client's confidentiality, but there is also a risk of appearing disrespectful to other identifiable participants in the system, such as prosecutors or even judges.
It has never been my intention to harm clients (or the "system," for that matter) by breaching confidentiality. Nor have I ever intended my criticism of those working within the system to be insulting or disrespectful. But from now on, out of respect for those who have found this blog to be improper, and on the advice of my very wise and understanding employer, I will be taking exceptional care to ensure that future posts do not violate any rules of confidentiality or show any undue disrespect toward those hardworking people in the criminal justice system, here in "anon" county.
Any suggestions or comments as to how best to use this blog to further the goal of stimulating discussion on topics arising out of criminal defense practice, while at the same time preserving confidentiality, would be appreciated. (At present, my plan is to disclose no more detail than would be made public in a published appellate opinion, and to reveal nothing beyond the public record in pending cases. After all, newspapers and appellate courts always do the right thing, don't they?)
And in case I haven't been clear in the past, I have just as much respect for prosecutors as I have for defense attorneys.
posted by brainmarket @ 2:51 PM
5 Comments:
An unfortunate situation, indeed.
Make up fake cases, with conglomerations of issues. Or, just turn it into a fictional blog. Or, something. I'll miss the case chatting. I don't believe anything on this blog violated any standard of ethics, but your very reasonable employer has to be prudent.
While it was inevitable you'd be found out by some who didn't like it, I regret that it happened now.
--Partly Responsible Person
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I have enjoyed this blog and look forward to reading the new version. Thanks for putting so many interesting questions in front of us.
And for the record, I also have just as much respect for prosecutors as for defense attorneys. And vice versa. Of course, that comment really prompts many more questions, doesn't it?
I have respect for those who demand it. When people are true believers, whether prosecutors or defense attorneys, they kinda irk me.
I knew someone would get busted. It's all fun and games until someone loses an eye.
Do you really respect prosecutors as much as defense attorneys? Doesn't seem so. Maybe that's just because you don't post your criticism of defense attorneys as frequently as the criticism of DDAs. And of course, posting kudos isn't as fun to read.
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