Dean Strang, former defense attorney for Steven Avery of “Making a Murderer,” said we’ve drifted away from the principles laid out in our constitution.

The defense attorney gave a talk on Friday in Hendricks Chapel about the United States justice system. The event was hosted by the Campbell Public Affairs Institute and the Maxwell School of Citizenship and Public Affairs.

The theme of Strang’s talk was humility. He said the U.S. must approach the criminal justice system — on both the defense and prosecution sides — with more humility.

“We only learn from the mistakes that we admit,” Strang said.

Some mistakes are evident. The U.S. incarcerates more people than any nation on earth. Among this massive prison population, inequalities along the lines of race, class and mental health are egregious, he said. About one in three black men will be imprisoned at some point in their lives, according to a study published by the Bureau of Justice Statistics.

As an attorney for people including Steven Avery, the subject of the “Making a Murderer” documentary series, Strang said he has seen firsthand the havoc an overabundance of pride in the system can wreck upon the most vulnerable in our society.

The system forgets about humility when it sentences men and women, like Avery, to life without parole, as if this is a lenient sentence. Life without parole sentences have increased recently, Strang said.

It’s easy to see all of these people as violent criminals, but Strang said about 3,200 of the people serving these sentences were convicted of non-violent property related crimes. Some 2,500 were children when they committed their crimes, sentencing them to what Strang calls “a social death sentence.”

Strang reminded people about something often forgotten in the justice system — its inherent humanity.

 Sam Ogozalek | Staff Writer

“We must remember that we are human, with bounded experience, bounded foresight and bounded rationality,” Strang said.

Even in a time of great technological advancement we could always be wrong, Strang said.

Those who are familiar with Avery’s case may see him as an outlier, a victim of a malicious police department with a vendetta against him. In reality, he’s one of the luckier ones. He had access to good legal counsel, whereas most do not. About 80 percent of criminal defendants have their legal counsel provided by public defenders, Strang said.

According to a study by the American Bar Association, the lack of a good public defense causes pressure on defendants to plead guilty to crimes they didn’t commit.

On the other side of the aisle, former New York City Prosecutor Eva Carafa said the prosecutor has a lot of advantages and the public defenders they are up against have no advantages.

“It’s just perverse at this point,” Carafa said.

Her remarks align with some of Strang’s overarching questions about the country: What does it say about America if the country will spend two to three times more on the prosecution to put people in prison, then on their right to defense, which could keep them out?

Strang said these questions are difficult and uncomfortable, but must be asked to avoid becoming what prosecutor Carafa calls, “A very mean place that doesn’t care about our people.”

Published on September 11, 2016 at 11:06 pm

Contact Matt: msilverm@syr.edu