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Legal Abuse

By Theresa Fritz Camoriano

As a lawyer and a citizen, I am very upset to see our legal system being used as a means of torture rather than as a means to achieve justice.  The recent case involving the Duke Lacrosse players and the Scooter Libby case are just two examples in which overzealous prosecutors have abused the system and caused tremendous unjust suffering.

But, unfortunately, the government is not the only one that abuses the system -- private parties also abuse the legal system for personal gain.  Businesses use lawsuits to attack their competitors, lawyers get rich by organizing class action suits in which the victims receive little benefit, and injured individuals often treat the legal system as if it were the lottery, suing with the hope of winning a big judgment. 

The unjust suffering caused by these abuses of the legal system is tremendous.  If we want to live in a civilized society in which we are safe from such abuse ourselves, we must not tolerate them, even if we dislike the people who are being abused.  If we tolerate the abuse of others, we may soon find ourselves becoming the next victims.

Fortunately, it appears that Mr. Nifong, the prosecutor of the Duke case, will be investigated by the state bar, and he may be held accountable for his actions.  But what about the faculty at Duke and the members of the news media who rushed to judgment before considering the facts?  Who will reimburse those accused young men for all their legal fees?  Who will give them back the lost year of their lives, their reputations, and their futures? 

In the Scooter Libby case, the prosecutor knew there had been no illegal leaking of the name of a CIA spy, but he did not let that stop him.  He vigorously pressed an investigation anyway and then accused Libby of lying in the course of the investigation, failing to tell the truth about who gave him information and when.  As a forgetful person myself, I can easily imagine innocently making such a mistake.  It is painful for me to see my tax money being used to attack Libby over something so petty.  When I think of what Scooter Libby is going through -- the terrible publicity, the huge legal fees, and the risk of imprisonment -- it sends chills up my spine.  When the tremendous resources of government are brought to bear against an individual over such a petty matter, the case itself becomes the punishment.  What are we coming to?

When the legal system is allowed to be used as a weapon against innocent victims or a means of abuse as it is today, then we have a serious problem that needs to be corrected. 

There are several steps we can take:

          1.  We must recognize and speak out against these abuses when they occur. 

          2.  We must not allow our prejudices in favor of or against any party based on race, wealth, religion, or political leanings to cloud our judgment.  If we allow any people to be victimized, we may well find ourselves to be the next victims.

          3.  We have a responsibility as citizens to vote bad prosecutors and judges out of office.

          4.  We need to overhaul the legal system to reduce the opportunity for it to be used to abuse innocent parties. In the case of lawsuits between private parties, if someone brings a lawsuit and loses the case, he should have to pay the legal fees of his victim.  If prosecutors do not make a proper investigation before bringing charges, or if they withhold evidence from a defendant, or engage in other egregious misconduct, they should be held personally accountable, and the government entity that is responsible should have to compensate the victim. 

          5.  We should challenge and question the lawyers who pursue these baseless cases.  If they are making a living by victimizing others, they should be shunned, not respected. 

These kinds of abuses are not supposed to be able to happen in America.  It is up to the regular folks to stop them.  Enough is enough!

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