For more than a decade, the criminal-defense attorney Scott H. Greenfield has been writing about American law and culture at Simple Justice. Among the site’s readers are lawyers, law professors, judges, civil libertarians, and advocates of criminal-justice reform. What keeps me coming back is his zealous advocacy for a consistent set of principles no matter how unpopular their application might be in a given instance.
Whether I agree or strongly disagree with where he comes down on a given matter, I can count on his steadfast commitment to an underlying ethos. And in many instances that helps me to see what is at stake more clearly. Last month, I asked whether he would be willing to do an interview to discuss his growing concern with turns that American culture has taken. Here is a lightly condensed and edited version of our correspondence.
Excellent article!
Some points from Scott:
“… there is no appeal from the court of public opinion.”
“Once someone believes, “motivated cognition” takes over and we argue our point to the bitter end, no matter how wrong we may factually be.”
“Many have not, and don’t let the absence of facts, or actual knowledge, get in the way of their believing what they choose to believe…”
How do we change peoples minds?
I wish judges would read this and actually be spurred into doing their job. Unfortunately state elected judges are just as bad as politicians and risk losing their jobs if they do. Its a shame states wont fix that as voters will never give up their lynch mob powers.