It has been reported that Judy Clarke will represent Tucson gunman Jared Loughner in court. Clarke has previously represented the Unabomber Ted Kaczynski and other grim figures:
Judy Clarke is known in legal circles as “the patron saint of criminal defense attorneys” and “the One-Woman Dream Team.”
Now, the nationally known criminal defense lawyer is adding Tucson mass shooting suspect Jared Loughner to an already long list of high-profile defendants that included “Unabomber” Ted Kaczynski, Olympics bomber Eric Rudolph, 9/11 conspirator Zacarias Moussaoui and South Carolina mother Susan Smith, who drowned her two sons…
The Asheville, N.C., native, with more than three decades of criminal defense experience, is considered one of the nation’s leading experts on death penalty cases. A fierce opponent of the death penalty, Clarke has helped several high-profile defendants avoid death row, including Kaczynski, Smith and Rudolph.
On balance I think that it is a good thing that Jared Loughner will get the best possible defense lawyer. The first point is that if the death penalty is imposed, there will be greater public confidence in the verdict if Loughner is represented by the strongest possible lawyer.
Continue reading Richard Epstein at National Review Online's The Corner...
