Nastiness in paradise
So awhile back I drove 90 minutes to an outlying (and very conservative) community, Pahrump, to handle the first part of a heated sentencing hearing where a bakers' dozen of state's speakers mixed various parts homophobia, apocalyptic christianity and pure nastiness for hours. Among other things I was called "soul less" "reprehensible" and (my favorite) "that man" (with trembling finger pointed at me fron the witness stand). Among other things I was told I was going, someday, to answer "to my maker," that I couldn't possibly be a father or any kind of man because I represented (and apparantly did too good a job at it) a man who had violated the laws of "man, nature and God". Which in this case basically boiled down to a 40ish man basically paying to have sex with two young men who were 16 or a bit older in rural Nevada (whereupon the parents began to push the young men to make up horrendous crap to as to ensure my client, who was confessing, did not "get away with it.")
Now, I might have my own opinions of the underlying facts, and certainly do not agree with 40 year old's having sex with 16 year olds, but some of the shennanigans the family and DA pulled in the case were simply beyond the pale and, in my opinion, can only be written off to homophobia.
After the hearing the bailiff escorted me out to my car (he was a friend and took much abuse for it afterwards) so that if attacked I would have at least one neutral witness. He thought to help me check my vehicle for sabotauge.
Today I am going out to handle the second part to the hearing. The client's mother and sister have already expressed concern; and I know it is going to be hot. I debated whether or not I was going to be low key; but the homophobic BS is really making me mad . . . I think the right thing is to fight this head on but I need to make sure my attitude (and attire) are not more reflective of my anger and desire to get in some people's faces as opposed to my client's best interests. If my client's interests are best served by me swallowing this crap, I will have to do just that. I have a 90 minute drive ahead of me to make up my mind.
It will is going to make for a very interesting day.