Story Archive

True Justice

Williamson County, Tenn., prosecutors filed a motion against defense attorney Drew Justice. “The State has noticed in the past few years that it has become commonplace during trials for attorneys for defendants, and especially Mr. Justice, to refer to State’s attorneys as ‘the Government’,” the motion complained. “The State believes that such a reference is used in a derogatory way and is meant to make the State’s attorney seem oppressive and to inflame the jury.” Justice countered with his own motion. If he couldn’t call prosecutors “the Government,” then they shouldn’t call his client “the Defendant,” and instead should them “Mister”, “the Citizen Accused”, or — since defendants are considered innocent until proven guilty — “that innocent man.” Of course, how they refer to Justice should change as well, he argued. “Counsel for the Citizen Accused should be referred to primarily as the ‘Defender of the Innocent’,” he said. “Alternatively, counsel would also accept the designation ‘Guardian of the Realm’.” He continued that “Whenever addressed by name, the name ‘Captain Justice’ will be appropriate.” In the end, the judge threw out the prosecution’s motion. “He said the word ‘government’ wasn’t derogatory,” Justice explained . (MS/USA Today) ...And with that, Captain Justice (Guardian of the Realm) triumphed over the oppressive Government.