Thursday, November 20, 2003
THE EDITOR OF AMERICAN LAWYER MAGAZINE gets all eggheady and self-righteous in defending the insanity defense in a Slate article labeled as the opposite of what it is. Yes, Mr. Lawyer, how dare that rube Dennis Miller simplify this complex issue into a simple matter of public safety!
But that's not my main point.
My main point is about intellectual honesty. Mr. Lawyer talks about intellectual dishonesty, and then he writes that "Malvo claims he was brainwashed." No, Malvo doesn't "claim" he was brainwashed. Malvo's lawyer, Mr. Lawyer, picked the most convenient defense tactic, which was to claim that his client was brainwashed. What Malvo did, Mr. Lawyer, was calmly and clinically describe his love of killing people. Crazy? Of course. But so is killing a liquor-store clerk for 35 bucks. And I like Dennis Miller's simple-minded solution to that kind of craziness a lot better than the egghead solution.
(Where is Gunther Parche these days, anyway?)
But that's not my main point.
My main point is about intellectual honesty. Mr. Lawyer talks about intellectual dishonesty, and then he writes that "Malvo claims he was brainwashed." No, Malvo doesn't "claim" he was brainwashed. Malvo's lawyer, Mr. Lawyer, picked the most convenient defense tactic, which was to claim that his client was brainwashed. What Malvo did, Mr. Lawyer, was calmly and clinically describe his love of killing people. Crazy? Of course. But so is killing a liquor-store clerk for 35 bucks. And I like Dennis Miller's simple-minded solution to that kind of craziness a lot better than the egghead solution.
(Where is Gunther Parche these days, anyway?)
