Posted by Jonathan Adler:
Charles Fried on Stimson:
http://volokh.com/archives/archive_2007_01_14-2007_01_20.shtml#1168970168
Harvard Law Professor and former U.S. solicitor general Charles Fried
has [1]an op-ed in today's Wall Street Journal ([2]available here) on
Cully Stimson's comments. Here's a taste:
Defense Department official Charles Stimson showed ignorance and
malice in deploring the pro bono representation of Guantanamo
detainees by lawyers in some of the nation's leading law firms, and
in calling on their corporate clients to punish them for this work.
. . .
It is the pride of a nation built on the rule of law that it
affords to every man a zealous advocate to defend his rights in
court, and of a liberal profession in such a nation that not only
is the representation of the dishonorable honorable (and any lawyer
is free to represent any person he chooses), but that it is the
duty of the profession to make sure that every man has that
representation. . . .
All that can be said in explanation, if not mitigation, of Mr.
Stimson's egregious statements is that he may have been led on by
the extravagant rhetoric of ideologues at the other end of the
spectrum, who regularly inveigh against law firms which make their
living by defending corporate interests accused of abusing
employees, consumers and the environment.
Read the whole thing.
References
1.
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB116892102246577373.html?mod=opinion_main_commentaries
2. http://www.law.harvard.edu/news/2007/01/16_fried.php
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