Bailey Hits Defects in Criminal Law

"Criminal law does not, and cannot do justice," F. Lee Bailey said last night. "It can only put in jail those who are guilty beyond a reasonable doubt."

Addressing an overflow crowd at Leverett House, Bailey--the attorney who defended Albert DeSalvo, Dr. Sam Shepard, Dr. Carl Coppolino -- described some of the problems inherent in the present system of criminal law, and in the present training of criminal lawyers.

Distortions

Bailey complained that, in the public eye, indictment in a criminal case is equivalent to conviction. He said that Dr. Coppolino would suffer both socially and economically from the effects of the murder indictment brought against him, although Bailey feels that the "murder" was in fact never committed.

Referring to capital punishment as "an insult to civilized society," Bailey said that some one like Albert DeSalvo -- the 'Boston Strangler' -- should be studied, not killed. "DeSalvo," Bailey said, "gives psychiatrists a rare chance to study the mentality of an irrational killer, and the doctors should not let the chance slip away."

Legal Training

Another major problem with criminal law is the training of lawyers, Bailey said. He suggested that criminal lawyers should have an internship and residency after graduating from law school -- similar to the training required of medical doctors. "But instead of an internship," Bailey continued, "we train our lawyers on real live clients."

Bailey said that if the government would spend money to train criminal lawyers properly after law school, only those who were indisputably guilty would be indicted. He predicted that a body of well trained criminal lawyers could significantly limit the number of innocent men convicted.