In Praise of Defense Lawyers:
My Wall Street Journal op-ed on the Duke rape case is today's featured article on OpinionJournal.com and available without subscription here. An excerpt:
The crucial importance of defense lawyers was illustrated in reverse by the Duke rape prosecution, mercifully ended last week by North Carolina Attorney General Roy Cooper's highly unusual affirmation of the defendants' complete innocence. Others are rightly focusing on the "perfect storm," generated by a local prosecutor up for election peddling to his constituents a racially-charged narrative that so neatly fit the ideological template of those who dominate academia and the media. But perhaps we should stop for a moment to consider what saved these young men: defense attorneys, blogs and competing governments.
I also tell the story about my appearance on the Ricki Lake Show.