<DIV> <BLOCKQUOTE style="PADDING-LEFT: 5px; MARGIN-LEFT: 5px; BORDER-LEFT: #1010ff 2px solid"> -White collar crooks (including my clients) no longer get a free pass. you mean the 1/2 of one percent that get busted? convince me. * * * I'm supposed to do your research for you? I actually had the figures, posted them sometime back, look in archives. You should understand that a federal indictment is tantamount to conviction -- the conviction rate is upwards of 98%. Do the feds spend more time going after gangbanging drug dealers and low level fraudsters than after big fish? Probably. But don't think it's because they like the big fish. Every AUSA dreams of landing a Milikan or a Boesky. The big fish are harder to nail, is all. * * * -I'm not sure of your point, though. We are supposed to be sympathetic to murderers (including my -clients), rapists, thugs, and drug dealers because (or when) they are poor and minorities, because -people from deprived backgrounds can't be expected to be better than that? sympathy is one thing. innocent until proven guilty is another. * * * Yah, OK, your point? I'm a criminal defense attorney, among other things. I'd be real happy if juries shared your understand of what the standard means. If they did, I'd get my clients off a lot more. Of course, since most of my criminal clients are white collar fraudsters, you might not approve. But I also represent murderers pro bono, typically in futile habeas proceedings. * * * -Cops lie, sure, what's your point? when they do it on the stand, what's it called? * * * Testilying.Your point? * * * * simple curiosity. how long do you think the courts can continue to function, if function is the right word? * * * They are in no danger of shutting down. I mainly work in federal court, though. jks</BLOCKQUOTE></DIV><hr SIZE=1> Do you Yahoo!? <a href="http://pa.yahoo.com/*http://rd.yahoo.com/evt=1207/*http://promo.yahoo.com/sbc/">SBC Yahoo! DSL</a> - Now only $29.95 per month!