The first pink I've ever caught!
Red Salmon - beautiful!
Barbara in her Haz-Mat suit
Tuesday, September 16, 2014
Can I ask you a question?
One of my roles at Christian Legal Aid this semester is to answer the phones. Many of our clients have mental issues, and this one woman I spoke with on Friday raised some red flags. After giving a several minute monologue about all her issues, her legal problems and her emotional struggles, I told her that she should come in to speak to one of our attorneys.
She asked how much it cost.
I explained that she would have a ninety minute appointment with an attorney for free.
She said, "Can I ask you a question. Why do you do that?"
I was really stunned. I didn't know what to say.
Her question will stay with me for a long time.
It speaks to a loneliness, a lack of faith in society, and a mistrust for anyone or anything that seems "too good to be true." Indeed, I could not agree with Joseph Allegretti more- for most criminal defendants (and for nearly all of the poorest clients), "the criminal act itself (or legal problem) is just the tip of the iceberg, beneath which are more basic emotional, economic and spiritual problems."
I am constantly guilty and completely unworthy of throwing the first stone, "will you stand by this person, this flawed and sinful human being, and speak a word in his behalf?" - this is the question true advocates answer with a bold "yes, of course."
So can I ask you a question?
The question is not "why do you do that?"
Why do you represent guilty, or why do you help the poor, it is why doesn't everybody?
Quoted Material from, Joseph Allegretti, The Lawyer's Calling, "Representing the Guilty."
She asked how much it cost.
I explained that she would have a ninety minute appointment with an attorney for free.
She said, "Can I ask you a question. Why do you do that?"
I was really stunned. I didn't know what to say.
Her question will stay with me for a long time.
It speaks to a loneliness, a lack of faith in society, and a mistrust for anyone or anything that seems "too good to be true." Indeed, I could not agree with Joseph Allegretti more- for most criminal defendants (and for nearly all of the poorest clients), "the criminal act itself (or legal problem) is just the tip of the iceberg, beneath which are more basic emotional, economic and spiritual problems."
I am constantly guilty and completely unworthy of throwing the first stone, "will you stand by this person, this flawed and sinful human being, and speak a word in his behalf?" - this is the question true advocates answer with a bold "yes, of course."
So can I ask you a question?
The question is not "why do you do that?"
Why do you represent guilty, or why do you help the poor, it is why doesn't everybody?
Quoted Material from, Joseph Allegretti, The Lawyer's Calling, "Representing the Guilty."
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