Comments on: Historians of the Singular: Lawyers, Judges, and the Work of Factual Construction http://crim.jotwell.com/historians-of-the-singular-lawyers-judges-and-the-work-of-factual-construction/ The Journal of Things We Like (Lots) Thu, 04 Mar 2010 23:56:11 +0000 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.9.1 hourly 1 By: Mojave Joe http://crim.jotwell.com/historians-of-the-singular-lawyers-judges-and-the-work-of-factual-construction/comment-page-1/#comment-156 Mojave Joe Tue, 15 Dec 2009 13:50:09 +0000 http://crim.jotwell.com/?p=17#comment-156 I couldn't help but think of this great article when I read the Supreme Court's recent opinion in Beard v. Kindler, No. 08-991 (Dec. 8. 2009). Chief Justice Roberts appears to go out of his way to portray Kindler as an artful criminal who is making a fool of the criminal justice systems in Canada and the United States. Why, for example, did the Chief Justice feel it necessary to tell us about Kindler's interview on Canadian television? (Kindler said he fled there because Canada has no death penalty.) or how "America's Most Wanted" characterized Kindler as "an above average criminal" and "a chess player who understands when to make his move"? The subtext to me is: you may think the accused are as much victims as victimizers but I know what they really are: intelligent, deceitful, evil. I couldn’t help but think of this great article when I read the Supreme Court’s recent opinion in Beard v. Kindler, No. 08-991 (Dec. 8. 2009). Chief Justice Roberts appears to go out of his way to portray Kindler as an artful criminal who is making a fool of the criminal justice systems in Canada and the United States. Why, for example, did the Chief Justice feel it necessary to tell us about Kindler’s interview on Canadian television? (Kindler said he fled there because Canada has no death penalty.) or how “America’s Most Wanted” characterized Kindler as “an above average criminal” and “a chess player who understands when to make his move”?

The subtext to me is: you may think the accused are as much victims as victimizers but I know what they really are: intelligent, deceitful, evil.

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