Marching where?  Protesting how?  Forced how?

If Paul thinks that most people who invoke due process in criminal cases 
are innocent, he has a decidedly different idea of what goes on in the 
typical American courtroom than was imparted to me at the U. of Texas Law 
School.  The Scottsboro Boys example doesn't dispel my impression that 
"MOST...," nor, I wager, would it establish the innocence of the average 
defendant in the mind of the typical working lawyer.

It seems that Prof. Finkelman ignored my use of the word "most."  On the 
other hand, I don't know whether he has ever tried a cause, so it may be 
that he thinks that railroaded defendants 70-odd years ago were typical of 
the run of criminal defendants in American history.  I sense, however, 
that this discussion has drifted rather afield from the purpose of this 
list.

KG




Paul Finkelman <[log in to unmask]> 
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Re: [VA-HIST] Rights talk






Following on Henry's point:

Like Civil Rights marchers trying to overturn segregation?
Or labor organizers protesting for an 8 hour work day?
Or Seventh Day Adventists trying to avoid being forced to work on their 
Sabbath?
Or the Scottsboro Boys asking for something that resembles due process law 
in a southern courtroom?


Prof. Gutzman writes: "My analysis is that most
people who find themselves invoking rights do so for unsavory reasons (to
get away with murdering an ex-wife, say, as in O.J.'s case), and that's
what we should expect; after all, it's the political/moral minority that
has to fall back on rights talk." 



That's a rather sweeping statement. Would you apply it to the gun rights
folks who just won the big decision? Not a hostile question; merely 
asking.

Henry Wiencek

Paul Finkelman
President William McKinley Distinguished Professor of Law
     and Public Policy
Albany Law School
80 New Scotland Avenue
Albany, New York   12208-3494

518-445-3386 
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