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    Beer, Titties and Left TurnsNeetzan Zimmerman
    7/29/13 3:41pm

    Look, I understand the gut reaction* "OMG SHE HELPED AN INNOCENT MAN GET OUT OF PRISON HOW COULD THEY DO THAT?!?!" And ignoring the obvious retort of "no harm, no foul," their is a deeper point to be made here. Yes, justice may have been served in this one case, for this one man, but justice is greater than that. It is greater than helping one man, in one case. True justice is equal for everyone, and it shouldn't be dependent on whether or not you know someone working for the court, or someone in the court system takes an interest in your case and helps you deal with the technical aspects of court procedure. The fact that she was a judge's assistant, working intimately with the standard bearers and guards of our justice system, only makes her offense even more harmful to greater notions of justice.

    Imagine another prisoner trying to get DNA testing, sitting in his prison cell, unable to afford a lawyer or attract the attention of pro bono attorneys, and his previous pro se petition for DNA testing was denied on technicalities. How do you think he feels about justice after reading a story like this?

    Now if you want to have a debate about the barriers we put up to DNA testing or to pro se representation, the fact that justice favors the wealthy or the plight of the wrongly convicted, I'm with you. We need to make things easier in that regard, but this is not a cause celebre for justice. Justice here was served.

    *NB When I say I understand, I really understand. In law school I took a class on wrongful convictions, taught by an Innocence Project attorney. I wrote a 30 page paper for that class on the Troy Davis case. I am a huge supporter of the work of the Innocence Project and everyone in the innocence movement as it is sometimes called. I think that we are far too harsh on wrongfully convicted people seeking DNA testing as a means of confirming their innocence, and we put far too many barriers in their way. I think the worst thing Justice Scalia ever said (among many awful things that he said) was that even if Troy Davis could prove innocence the court would provide him no relief. So I am 100% on the side of this guy's innocence, and him getting the DNA test that ultimately freed him.

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      I Still DreamBeer, Titties and Left Turns
      7/29/13 4:02pm

      I really understand the point you're tying to make here, and that you're making it in the best of faith. And I agree that equality under the law is a principle of paramount importance. But:

      Given that her action was nothing more than to point this person toward publicly available information that would help their appeal to be tried on its merits instead of on procedural grounds, if I were that other prisoner my thought would absolutely not be "that guy got unfair access and it isn't right," it would first be "wait, there are publicly available source of successful appeals that I could model mine on? I should look at those!" and secondly "Every court should have someone whose job it is to make sure defendants filing appeals are aware of all relevant publicly available documents." If one individual in one locale does something right that everyone else does wrong, the solution seems to be to bring everyone else up to that level, not to stamp out that one positive aberration.

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      Beer, Titties and Left TurnsI Still Dream
      7/29/13 4:39pm

      it would first be "wait, there are publicly available source of successful appeals that I could model mine on? I should look at those!"

      Good luck with that. Seriously, good luck. "Public" court records are very difficult to access, and this is coming from a lawyer. Many court records are not even online, and those that are online frequently have limited functionality. For instance, most court databases will let you search based on party name, case number or even attorney's name. But finding something like this, a particular document that you want to file that someone else has filed previously, is like finding a needle in haystack. You can't type in "petition for DNA testing" like Google, and come up with what you need. You would have to know the case name or number to find the document. And if the court records aren't online, well then you're almost definitely fucked, especially considering that petitions for DNA testing in cases where someone was already convicted is extremely rare. Again, needle in a haystack.

      secondly "Every court should have someone whose job it is to make sure defendants filing appeals are aware of all relevant publicly available documents."

      I think I made it ABUNDANTLY clear in my OP that I absolutely 110% support ideas like this. But having someone who is under no obligation to aid every person filing something pro se in the courthouse, such as this judge's assistant, and only helping those she chooses to help, gives off the appearance of favoritism, which is to be avoid in the justice system at all costs. Having a person whose job it is to do this, that every citizen could access equally, is a phenomenal idea, but doing it ad hoc on a case-by-case basis, where the court employees are only doing it voluntarily, and are under no obligation to help anyone they don't choose, is not the answer, and it taints the justice system.

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    MisterHippityNeetzan Zimmerman
    7/29/13 2:28pm

    How many times do I have to say it? Rules are rules.
    Daycare Teacher Fired for Leaving Classroom to Save Children from Fire Daycare Teacher Fired for Leaving Classroom to Save Children from Fire Daycare Teacher Fired for Leaving Classroom to…

    Going above and beyond the call of duty normally earns an employee praise from his or her… Read more Read more

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      BurnedaliveMisterHippity
      7/29/13 2:30pm

      Trolls are trolls.

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      MisterHippityBurnedalive
      7/29/13 2:33pm

      That word, "troll" ...

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    MulderLovesMeNeetzan Zimmerman
    7/29/13 2:28pm

    That judge is a dick. He'd rather prop up a failed system and incarcerate an innocent man and fire a public servant of 35 years than let anyone usurp any of his power. Megalomaniac. He disgusts me. Our prison system is so fucked!

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      StorminMike2000MulderLovesMe
      7/29/13 2:33pm

      Fuck that. Courts cannot give legal advice. That's what lawyers are for. That is so fucking basic and if you cannot understand why that policy is in Society's best interest, you ought to take a basic course on civics.

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      MulderLovesMeStorminMike2000
      7/29/13 2:37pm

      Yup, that's part of the scam. It's a paid good old boys network. Fuck that!

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    stacyinbeanNeetzan Zimmerman
    7/29/13 2:28pm

    Hey, as long as she is getting her whole pension this isn't that bad of a deal. She gets to retire 9 months early AND know that she's an awesome human being.

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      Oh-Indeedstacyinbean
      7/29/13 2:36pm

      Yeah, this strikes me as a win for her, really. It almost seems as though the County knew they technically had to terminate her employment because of her actions, but found a loophole where they could treat her right, anyway.

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      Ky-to-the-Jellystacyinbean
      7/29/13 3:46pm

      Couldn't she have waited 9 months.... retired, and then done this as a concerned public citizen?

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    ArdenNeetzan Zimmerman
    7/29/13 4:38pm

    This is the part that's confusing me in the original article linked.

    "The judge’s dismissal letter cites numerous recorded phone conversations between Dunnell and Nelson in which they discussed Snyder’s efforts, including the document she provided that Nelson used in his successful DNA motion"

    Who exactly was recording the phone calls and why were they being recorded?

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      mslewisArden
      7/29/13 6:12pm

      I think the defendant might have been calling from prison in which case, All phone calls are recorded.

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    FnarsbourgNeetzan Zimmerman
    7/29/13 3:51pm

    She did technically break the rules, but if she gets a full pension and helped the system to work, then I imagine the situation pretty much boils down to this:

    GIF
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      freetogoodownderNeetzan Zimmerman
      7/29/13 2:29pm

      ...because no one has the inherent right to be a decent human being anymore. Rules are rules, people.

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        Yinzers Are People TooNeetzan Zimmerman
        7/29/13 3:00pm

        She got this man justice. That was the right thing to do. She broke the rules and she was fired. That was the right thing to do. She was given a full pension. That was the right thing to do.

        Everybody did the right thing!

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          mslewisNeetzan Zimmerman
          7/29/13 6:03pm

          She knew the law and she broke it. The judge was right to fire her. Having said that, she was shown mercy when she was given her full pension. I see no reason for outrage here.

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            Sonia HalbachNeetzan Zimmerman
            7/29/13 2:29pm

            Does this really fall under "suggested course of action"? It seems they were already taking that course, and she just provided an example of the course they had chosen.

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