In September of this year, I will have been practicing law in Orlando for twenty years. In the course of my career, I have gone from being single with no kids to married with two, from prosecuting to defending criminals, and from belief to unbelief. One consistent thread that runs throughout is my dealing with the believing public.

Other than physical illness, legal problems are for many the worst ordeal of their lives, especially in the criminal arena. I’ve represented people who were on the brink of ultimate disaster, watching their lives unravel, their dreams dashed and their future sink away into oblivion. Many waited for months in the county jail to hear their fate. Overcrowded, poorly fed and under constant stress, most could not stand to look the devil in the eye until the last possible minute, sometimes with the jury standing just outside the courtroom door.

Many relied on their faith to get them through. Some concluded that they had to pay for their sins and were willing to accept their punishment. But many more believed that their saviour would come through in the end and pull them from the fire. Clutching their Bible in their shackled hands like a lucky rabbit’s foot, they would confidently step off the cliff.

That frequently left me in the position of having to figure out how to get irrational people to make rational decisions. Despite what most people think, criminal defense lawyers are not usually focused on the very unrealistic goal of getting their clients off completely. The vast majority of the time, we are concerned with battling excessive charges and getting a fair sentence for the crime the client actually committed. Once we can get the case fairly charged and a reasonable sentence recommended, it becomes our task to convince the client to accept it and avoid the risk of trial and a greatly enhanced sentence. Having to overcome superstitious beliefs makes that task much harder.

I grew up a churchgoer and have studied the Bible extensively. I largely credit being a lawyer with training me to think rationally and value evidence. But my training in scriptures has aided me many times in getting clients to make the right decision within their own religious framework. Maybe I’m copping out, but I just can’t bring myself to challenge people’s religious beliefs when they are incarcerated and it’s the only thing holding them together.

What I tell people, and I’m talking only about Christians, is that their faith does not promise them material success in this world, but in the next. All the Apostles and many thousands more Christians in the first century C.E. were tortured and murdered for their faith. I tell them they cannot expect to avoid their fate on earth if even the Apostles were not spared. They don’t like the argument, but they have no response for it. Usually it works.

It feels hypocritical sometimes. It does not, however, feel as bad as failing to convince someone to make the right choice and watching as they dash themselves upon the rocks.

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