You remember incorrectly (if I remember correctly, anyway) — they don't ever decide the kid is obviously innocent, and Fonda repeatedly makes a point that he's just talking about what's "possible".

I've never actually seen The Good Wife. I knew she was a lawyer; am surprised to find out her practice is actually criminal defense, which isn't the impression I'd gotten from the snippets I'd garnered; it sounded like she did a lot of civil litigation, though Wikipedia makes it sound like she jumps around a lot for…

I've never actually seen The Good Wife. I knew she was a lawyer; am surprised to find out her practice is actually criminal defense, which isn't the impression I'd gotten from the snippets I'd garnered; it sounded like she did a lot of civil litigation, though Wikipedia makes it sound like she jumps around a lot for…

tl;dr the above — to quote Fonda, "It's possible! I'm just saying it's possible!"

tl;dr the above — to quote Fonda, "It's possible! I'm just saying it's possible!"

But that's just it, one way in which it's not like high school debate is that a weak argument doesn't become un-weak just because the opposition fails to point it out, and you therefore do, in reality, have some responsibility to shore up your argument pre-emptively.

But that's just it, one way in which it's not like high school debate is that a weak argument doesn't become un-weak just because the opposition fails to point it out, and you therefore do, in reality, have some responsibility to shore up your argument pre-emptively.

Right, but "Maybe the witnesses were full of shit about what they vaguely saw and heard, the kid was traumatized by his interrogation, and the guy got stabbed by some other asshole with a common kind of knife" is way less "wild" as a speculation than, I dunno, "That one random cop got specifically targeted for…

Right, but "Maybe the witnesses were full of shit about what they vaguely saw and heard, the kid was traumatized by his interrogation, and the guy got stabbed by some other asshole with a common kind of knife" is way less "wild" as a speculation than, I dunno, "That one random cop got specifically targeted for…

We don't get actual "firsthand" confirmation of anything at all other than what Scout sees, and since she's like nine years old that's not much, but I think we're meant to take Tom Robinson as (obviously) actually being a good guy who tells the truth, and Tom's testimony clearly references Mayella telling him that…

We don't get actual "firsthand" confirmation of anything at all other than what Scout sees, and since she's like nine years old that's not much, but I think we're meant to take Tom Robinson as (obviously) actually being a good guy who tells the truth, and Tom's testimony clearly references Mayella telling him that…

(A better answer to your actual question is that two recent "defense attorney" shows are The Practice and Boston Legal, but I hate both of them so I ignore them.)

(A better answer to your actual question is that two recent "defense attorney" shows are The Practice and Boston Legal, but I hate both of them so I ignore them.)

Dr.Robuttnik, no offense, but what you're saying sounds like if the prosecution made the Chewbacca Accusation ("If a Wookiee lives on Kashyyyk rather than Endor, you must convict!") and the defense just stood there mouth agape rather than coherently responding, you'd have to send the guy to jail because a Wookiee…

Dr.Robuttnik, no offense, but what you're saying sounds like if the prosecution made the Chewbacca Accusation ("If a Wookiee lives on Kashyyyk rather than Endor, you must convict!") and the defense just stood there mouth agape rather than coherently responding, you'd have to send the guy to jail because a Wookiee…

While there certainly are soldiers who are gung-ho about going into combat this also certainly does not describe all soldiers and I would hope at least some soldiers have some self-awareness about it.

While there certainly are soldiers who are gung-ho about going into combat this also certainly does not describe all soldiers and I would hope at least some soldiers have some self-awareness about it.

Well, take it from the other direction. Having an axe to grind against "thugs and criminals and scumbag defense lawyers" and in favor of "law and order and cleaning up the streets" doesn't disqualify someone from serving as a juror or being the lone gunman calling for conviction while 11 others call for acquittal or…

Well, take it from the other direction. Having an axe to grind against "thugs and criminals and scumbag defense lawyers" and in favor of "law and order and cleaning up the streets" doesn't disqualify someone from serving as a juror or being the lone gunman calling for conviction while 11 others call for acquittal or…

Sure, that's easy. There's no reasonable expectation that a legal tender act is perfectly universally enforceable or even really enforceable at all under a condition of genuine hyperinflation, and indeed the experience of Third World countries undergoing "dollarization" even when laws are explicitly passed…