Atticus Finch Was Wrong?

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Well, the unrelenting swiftboating I previously decried in this column worked as intended in last Tuesday’s election for state Supreme Court justice. The lies and distortions of the third-party groups’ ads were compounded by television ads run directly by Judge Michael Gableman’s campaign that criticized Justice Louis Butler for doing his job to effectively represent his client, years ago back when he was a public defender. Judge Gableman defended these unfair distortions on Election Day, according to the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, when he said “You don’t get a more stark contrast or clear contrast than that between a prosecutor and criminal defense attorney. Therefore, I don’t view it as a negative ad.”

The contrast is indeed stark, just like black and white. That was the clear import of the images of Justice Butler’s former client Reuben Mitchell, code for Butler being soft on crime, and don’t forget, both Mitchell and Butler are black too. That sadly still plays outside the bigger cities even forty years after Dr. King’s death.

The fact that Butler was a defense attorney doing his job when he represented Mr. Mitchell, and was not acting as a judge is beside the point. Muddy it up and see what sticks. It is about winning. Yes, the contrast is indeed stark, truth versus lies and distortions. And truth lost out big time in this week’s election.

Yes, Justice Butler was a defense attorney at one point in his career, which should disqualify him serving on the Supreme Court, according to Gableman, as criminal defense attorneys must be soft on crime. They actually defend people who are charged with crimes.

This kind of twisted view of our adversary justice system and downright demagoguery and distortion has demeaned all of our courts and justice system in this state. Judges should be fair and impartial, not the police choice versus those who defend criminals.

Atticus Finch was wrong for taking Tom Robinson’s rape case in To Kill A Mockingbird, according to Judge Gableman’s logic. Or if he did take the case, he should not have tried his best to defend his client. You know, just play along, we’ll give him a trial and then hang him. And if Atticus did his job, like every ethical lawyer should do, and didn’t just play along, watch out if he ever decided to run for judge, as he would have that fact distorted and thrown at him a hundred-fold.

Your logic means that Abraham Lincoln was wrong for defending criminal defendants. So too was Thurgood Marshall. So was Louis Butler. Well I don’t believe it, Judge Gableman. You may have fooled a majority of the people this time, but you can’t all of the time. I’ll stick by these good and honorable lawyers, Atticus Finch and the truth.