Texas Tough

A great deal of politically charged chatter will break out in response to the arrest of Harvard professor Henry Louis Gates outside his home on Thursday. It’s impossible to know what precisely went down: Is conventional racial profiling at work here or did Gates go ballistic after a long flight with no pillows or food service? Still, it’s instructive to read the documents associated with the case that have gone public so far. First, there is the unusually detailed police report that presents a menacing portrait of Gates the Terrible badgering  a doe-eyed police officer and virtually forcing the arrest. (Even in this one-sided version, it’s notable that the officer admits he acted only when scolded in front of fellow officers, only when his honor before peers came into question). This represents only the first word, of course, but it’s worth remembering that in most criminal cases (especially those involving low-income defendants), the police report represents the first and last word. Every day, such incident reports undergrid plea bargaining negotiations between prosectuors and court-appointed counsel; in some cases, defense counsel doesn’t even have full access to the reports. Imagine what a fix Gates would be in in such conventional circumstances. As it happens, the professor is more-than-capably represented by his friend and colleague Charles Ogletree, who has already released a counter-narrative of the altercation with a very different emphasis. As the case develops, pause for a moment to think what this country’s criminal justice system would be like (and look like) if all criminal defendants were capably represented by counsel. Sadly, Gideon’s trumpet scarcely sounds in most court rooms, and our prison cells thus continue to fill up with nary a protest.