Breaking: Explosion Reported at Boston Marathon's Finish Line

[Peter Lemkin]

Death penalty lawyer Clarke 'humanizes' client and jury

/snip

Last week, at a forum at Loyola Law School in Los Angeles, Clarke delivered the keynote address, explaining that her job was to convince reluctant clients that opting for prison was better than choosing a death sentence.

I thought a lawyer for the defense was meant to defend against the charges?
Is she some sort of lawyer who buries inconvenient people away for the state with out looking at the rest of the evidence? I don't know any thing about her but this just seems odd to me.

There is no evidence that Tsarnaev, a naturalized U.S. citizen and a student at the University of Massachusetts, suffered from psychological problems.

There is little evidence that I have seen available publicly that he had much to do with the bombing either.

I forget the figure, but I listen to the great weekly show by the National Lawyer's Guild called 'Law and Disorder' - easily found on the internet with archives in mp3 - and they once gave a HUGE figure of those 'talked into' life in prison, when they could have fought for total exoneration. Its Big Business now with the Prison System; and it gets the 'problems' off the 'street'. This lawyer is not really a defense lawyer....unless it is defense of the 'system' on is referring to. Lawyers who really have the interests of the client at heart are few and far between and a dying breed.....IMHO.