John Adams and the Law

JohnAdamsAs you may recall, John Adams accepted the representation of the British soldiers who were charged in the Boston Massacre. No other colonist lawyer was willing to accept their representation for fear of losing standing with friends and countrymen.

Adams felt it was his duty as a lawyer, and representative of the judicial system to step in where they needed someone to speak for them; to see that justice was done and not miscarried because of the emotions of the Bostonians at the time.

John did not only an admirable job, he succeeded in have most of the soldiers acquitted under the law. During his argument in December, 1770, he said:

“Facts are stubborn things; and whatever may be our wishes, our inclinations, or the dictates of our passion, they cannot alter the state of the facts and evidence.”

Unfortunately I have been in a case or two where the facts and evidence still didn’t make any impression on the prosecutors today! Today you cannot alter the state of mind of the prosecutors or the judges, even with facts, law, and evidence!

Comments are closed.