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An open mind
James Kalomaris took me to task (March letters)
for a comment I made at a recent board of governors meeting to the
effect that a lot of lawyers who took and passed the three-day bar
exam would look at the two-day exam proposal and say, "Why
shouldn't they suffer as I did?" The comment was made facetiously,
but reflects the views of a good many lawyers. My own view is that if
we're going to move to a two-day exam, we'd better have strong
evidence that the new exam is equal to, even better than, our present
exam in assessing the capabilities of our would-be lawyers. I have an
open mind on that issue and urge the two-day exam proponents to
address the issue with that burden in mind.
John K. Van de Kamp
Board of Governors, District 7, Los Angeles
3 strikes: A moral atrocity
Your coverage of potential changes to
California's most obscene sentencing law, the so-called "Three
Strikes Law," (March issue) was fascinating. The argument that the
Three Strikes law reflects the will of the electorate is absurd. Every
time I have talked with a non-lawyer, they respond that they thought
the third strike was supposed to be a violent felony too.
Injustice has become rampant in the negotiation
process between prosecution and defense whenever a defendant has a
"strike" prior. Juvenile priors - often for residential burglary
- inflict 25 years to life exposure on the adult for minor felonies
that would be charged as a misdemeanor if there were no "strike"
priors. Although the criminal defense bar expects the 9th Circuit to
eventually find juvenile strikes as unconstitutional because many due
process rights are denied in juvenile adjudications, it has not yet
occurred.
The "serious" felonies, which now include
criminal threats, are a whole other issue in the widespread injustice
category.
When this initiative was approved, it was clear
that it would ultimately have to be changed due to the tremendous
costs. The good news: the state of California will be bankrupted as a
result of this moral atrocity. The bad news: we practice law in
California.
Janice L. Mackey
Redding |
