Lawyers aspire to zealously represent their clients. And, in between ripping them off or literally not having enough time to give everyone adequate representation, they occasionally fall short. But every once in a while, we really see an attorney willing to go to bat for their clients. Or jail, rather. From the ABA Journal:
Lawyer Matt Pippin of Shelby County, Kentucky, has filed a motion seeking to be housed in the same cell as his client until the Kentucky Correctional Psychiatric Center determines whether the client is competent for trial, WDRB reports.
Pippin said his client, Jacob Gonzalez, has been awaiting the exam for more than a year… Pippin told WDRB that Gonzalez has been detained without a competency hearing longer than the maximum sentence that he would have received if he was convicted. Meanwhile, Gonzalez is unable to receive medication or treatment, according to WDRB.
I rarely come across stories of big names in law that show their commitment to protest. It’s not like they aren’t out there — there’s the Biglaw attorneys who threw their careers along with Molotov cocktails and our Blessed Supreme Court justice who blanked on the Constitution before she even got the job, but I usually think of lawyer protest as the generally interesting but relatively boring antitrust variety.
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Protests that matter have some skin in the game. And few things say “I don’t agree with this” and “I’ll do my part to zealously defend you” like going to jail for your client:
“I don’t want to be incarcerated but I don’t want this on my conscience anymore,” Pippin told WDRB. “And I do think that there is a better chance of this being expedited … if there is some attention paid to it.”
Is Pippin likely to get cast to prison with his client? Probably not. Not being able to get into prison by request led to one of the most powerful commentaries on institutionalization and film dictates in our reality. But the sentiment is still powerful. And who knows, Pippin may end up being Bunkie, Esq. Or his client will be let go. We’ll see what comes first.
Lawyer Wants To Be Jailed With Client Until Long-Awaited Competency Exam Takes Place [ABA Journal]
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Chris Williams became a social media manager and assistant editor for Above the Law in June 2021. Prior to joining the staff, he moonlighted as a minor Memelord™ in the Facebook group Law School Memes for Edgy T14s. He endured Missouri long enough to graduate from Washington University in St. Louis School of Law. He is a former boatbuilder who cannot swim, a published author on critical race theory, philosophy, and humor, and has a love for cycling that occasionally annoys his peers. You can reach him by email at [email protected] and by tweet at @WritesForRent.