Fault Lines’ Holes: Plugs Needed

Our resident prosecutor, Delaware County, Ohio, assistant prosecuting attorney Andrew King gave me an elbow to the ribs the other day.

It is probably no surprise that here, at Fault Lines, there is not a lot of support for civil forfeiture.  It might have something to do with the criminal defense bias.

He’s right, and wrong.  The concept of Fault Lines is to have all legitimate voices in the criminal justice system heard. That means the voices that make you feel all warm and fuzzy, as well as those that infuriate you. Elsewhere, you find validation. At Fault Lines, leave your confirmation bias at the door. This is meant to be real, whether you agree with it or not.

But I added a footnote to Andrew’s post (because I’m the managing editor and have the keys to the backdoor).

*Ed. Note: It’s not that Fault Lines favors defense over prosecution, but that few prosecutors are willing or allowed to express their views publicly, leaving us with a dearth of prosecutorial voices. Which is one of the many things that makes Andrew King’s Fault Lines posts quite remarkable.

And that’s a hole I want, and Fault Lines needs, to do a better job of filling. It’s not that prosecutors haven’t come forward to write for Fault Lines, but each has met the same fate: their office has refused to allow them to write for Fault Lines. To her enormous credit, Carol O’Brien, the Delaware County District Attorney, gave Andrew permission to write, and is fearless in her trust that he will use that authority well. And, indeed, Andrew has, offering brilliant posts from the prosecutor’s perspective, even if it doesn’t turn your frown upside down.

We need more. More Andrews. More Carol O’Briens. More prosecutors with the grit to be transparent, illuminating and fearless. It hasn’t caused Andrew or Carol any problems, and it won’t harm you any either. But what it will do, and what it needs to do, is keep Fault Lines from being overly “defense oriented.”

And as long as we’re trying to fill holes, we could use more cops, or former, cops, as well. No, you won’t get the reception you’re likely to get at PoliceOne, where the choir will sing your praises, but you will have the opportunity to speak to an audience that needs to hear what you have to say.

We’ve also had cops come forward in the past, but when they were told that this wasn’t a hit and run deal, that it was hard work, that this wasn’t about them giving a lecture but contributing to a knowledge base built on the world through their eyes, they walked. You want to know why people can’t “understand” you? Because you won’t make the effort to explain it. It’s not easy. Isn’t there a cop or ex-cop out there, besides Greg Prickett, tough enough to handle it? If so, we want you.

And finally, there are the lawprofs. We’ve had some great scholars writing here, but there seems to be two problems that wear them down. The first is that they get caught up in their personal niche of scholarship, and eventually run dry of things they want to say. The second is that they feel naked without footnotes, meaning that they are uncomfortable with casual, and relatively brief, posts, as they’re used to writing law review articles.

Instead of letting loose, enjoying the freedom of expanding beyond your area of scholarship and not having to bluebook every cite, academics get stuck in tweed. We want your thoughts, you perspective here. If it makes you feel better, you can drop a few footnotes whenever you feel the need. But some smart folks live in Ivory Towers, and we want to add their perspective to the mix as well.

We have holes at Fault Lines. We want to fill them. We want all voices, no matter how much that makes some readers cry.  If you want to make a difference and have the chops to make it happen, let me know. Maybe you are exactly who we’re looking for to fill that hole. And if you don’t have the grit to come forward and put your butt on the line like all the other Fault Line contributors, don’t gripe that you voice isn’t heard. Put up or shut up.

15 thoughts on “Fault Lines’ Holes: Plugs Needed

  1. Scott Jacobs

    Well, my voice isn’t heard, and I think we can all agree that this is a Very Good Thing.

    After all, it would mostly be (poorly spelled) profanities and (not even) barely cogent rants…

  2. Marc R

    Would you accept posts from a prosecutor who stays anonymous on the site but presents his bona fides to the site admins? I’ve had the “fear” expressed by their office not that they don’t trust their poster but that these posts would fall under public records, and that could expand to defense counsel getting broader email requests. I understand if your need for transparency outweighs the need for prosecutorial posts.

    1. SHG Post author

      Somehow, that fear hasn’t presented a problem at all for Andrew or Carol. While I can appreciate the “official” concerns, as well as the latitude provided by anonymity, it would still fall under public records law, except then they could deny its existence and fail to honor their duty. I will not be complicit in concealing a violation of law for the sake of a voice. And if someone makes a public records request, so what? It’s all there, easy as pie, to be provided.

      And, I might add, that neither Andrew nor Carol are willing to be cowed into anonymity is one of their most telling features. They have a voice and they will not be afraid to use it. For that, they deserve enormous respect. An anon writer would not be so deserving.

  3. Jim Tyre

    One word: Paul Blart, Mall Cop

    OK that wasn’t actually serious. (Could you tell?) But I do appreciate hearing voices from other backgrounds, others points of view at Fault Lines. Sincerely I hope you find some.

    1. SHG Post author

      In my first “how are we doing” post about FL, the reaction was that people couldn’t figure out which side we were on. They saw that as a flaw rather than a feature, as no one else does that. That’s what legitimacy means.

  4. Charles

    “We have holes at Fault Lines. We want to fill them…”

    How many prosecutors and lawprofs does it take to fill a hole?

  5. Keith Lynch

    Have you approached Joshua Marquis? He’s the only prosecutor I know
    of who has a blog, . He posts from an alternate
    world in which wrongful convictions somehow magically never happen. I
    don’t know whether it’s the same reality that Judge Kopf posts from,
    in which police always tell the truth and defendants always lie.

    1. SHG Post author

      I’ve never heard of Marquis, but your question is backwards. If he would like to be considered as a writer for FL, it would be his choice to approach us. We are open to all voices, but we are very selective in who gets to write at FL.

  6. John Barleycorn

    You deserve half the grief  and even last ounce of the blame. Take them both double  to make up for your “sins”.

    Ghost will haunt you if you don’t respond to your writers (who are nothing like you and don’t want to be like you)  and when you do it is with an  “edit” of interference.

    Jist don’t do it.

    Little magic amongst you questionable producers of the “process” could be brewing.

    You all have certainly paused long enough to ponder the quandary of the circle.

    Everything about the scales and blindfolded  marble is….

    Chill! Chill will be difficult for you

    Let it rain and hopefully roll with “more”.

    If you ever become one of those former CDL’S that takes a seat and forgets (nothing substitutes for work) signature warrant “cunts” go to hell.

    Well, could be me that trolls your courtroom.

    Best of of everything in between that will bring the sincere dig of FL to some granite.

    I have suggestions…

    Fuck the fucking guided guild. BREAK on through.

    Even with a jade bracelet, five year review, and a deep sigh to your “pussy” aggregation you can’t be mailed.

    Your small intestine might be the postage but you are floaty invoice of credit.

    Hate to give you a nod but your duck, duck, goose is with merit.

     I  don’t know…. you gotta chill.  So even need the ladder at FL. Give it to them.

    Fuck if I know?

    Walk on through!

    If the feast of twist and twirls becomes even third mission. BEWARE your neighbors won’t get it when I set up the fun house bouncy in your front yard and stream the shenanigans of “love’..

    You don’t even have shown up if you go there.

    You won’t. I ain’t stalking.

    Love all you all!  Scott has some holes, root around and make him feel it. He is a lover too. 50/50 sometimes best to let him go first, sometimes best to go first.

    Walk on through.

    For your current audience. There is lots out there for the train that better “slow down”. Spewed up with speeding might fuck the whole circle.

    Just saying….

    https://youtu.be/U5Vki76x-EU

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