July 1, 2016 Letters
Letters
Outside-the-Box Thinking
The article in the June 1 News “Convention features lawyer behind the right to remain silent” is remarkable!
The 2,500-word petition to the U.S. Supreme Court in Miranda v. Arizona drafted by a yet-to-be admitted to the Arizona bar law firm associate is a testament to creativity in the application of legal principles
Robert J. Jensen, who was later admitted to the Arizona Bar, had only been with the law firm of Lewis and Roca for a couple of weeks. “The firm figures that it was such a long-shot that Mr. Jensen was told he could argue the case if he was admitted by then.”
As we know, Ernesto Miranda’s conviction was overturned by the Supreme Court. The court held that Mr. Miranda had not been informed of the right to counsel with an attorney before and during questioning and of the right against self-incrimination before police questioning, and that the defendant must understand these rights and voluntarily waive them.
Who would have thought?
• But then who would have thought that Columbus could safely sail across the ocean?
• That the Wright brothers could fly?
• That smallpox and polio could be eradicated?
• That scientists could develop robotic exoskeletons to help paraplegics to walk, and develop technologies to permit sight-impaired people to see again?
• That human beings could safely land on the moon and return to Earth?
Mr. Jenson exemplifies what can be done and what needs to be done when legal challenges are presented. That we cannot and must not think within the box of narrow viewpoints and ancient theories.
That to quote from Cervantes in Don Quixote, we must not see “life as it is” but “as it should be!”
Stephen Schoeman
Westfield, NJ
