In common

There's a pensive post on Ambivalent Imbroglio about the motivations of prosecutors and p.d.'s, with one public defender arguing that defenders and prosecutors have absolutely nothing in common, and that "prosecutors are just very evil people w/no feelings."

Well, yes, you can usually find a prosecutor in your area who fits this description, but the majority don't, and AmbImb is right to be skeptical of that p.d.'s claim. In my experience, P.D.'s and prosecutors have more in common than either care to acknowledge. For starters, there's the courtroom, and there's the notion of public service, which AmbImb notes that each define a bit differently, but come to sincerely (again, with the there's - one - in - every - jurisdiction exception). No, if anyone, if any one group of lawyers has nothing in common with p.d.'s, it's more likely to be BigLaw types than prosecutors.

Jeremy Richey weighs in with the always-welcome "image and likeness of G_d" reason for us to defend "those people."

Update:


"Morning, Ralph." "Morning, Sam."
- Alaskablawg on the ideal p.d. / prosecutor relationship.

Random Mentality: a reasonable prosecutor addresses this topic.