Just doing his job

Mumia Abu-Jamal is a celebrity cop killer, the convicted murderer of Philadelphia police officer Daniel Faulkner.
Since the 1981 murder, Abu-Jamal has successfully petitioned to have his death sentence thrown out and transformed himself into a victim wronged by the criminal justice system rather than a predator lying in wait.

Debo P. Adegbile

Debo P. Adegbile, a voting rights expert and former director of the NAACP's Legal Defense Fund, on Wednesday became the latest victim of Abu-Jamal's crime. His nomination to become head of the Justice Department's Civil Rights Division was blocked when seven Senate Democrats joined Republicans to deny Adegbile the job because, opponents said, he once had helped represent a "cop killer." The nominee also was opposed by the Fraternal Order of Police.
The 47-year-old, a senior counsel the past year on the Senate Judiciary Committee, made what to some is the unforgivable mistake of helping Abu-Jamal's defense. In 2009, years after the conviction, Adegbile contributed to a court brief that argued that Abu-Jamal's jury was improperly instructed. A judge later ruled the appeal had merit.
Apparently some believe criminal defendants do not deserve legal representation, although that long ago became settled law. Further, some believe anyone who represents a defendant is no better than the suspect. In the eyes of some, that's especially true for anyone who would represent a convicted cop killer.
On this point, it might be helpful to remember a long-ago case involving unpopular suspects. At least one American believed those suspects deserved  defense nonetheless. That man was John Adams, one of the nation's founders and its second president.
In 1770 Adams risked infamy and even death by agreeing to defend British soldiers in what we remember today as the Boston Massacre. Adams, at the time a young attorney and outspoken critic of the British occupation, later confided to his diary that taking the case was "one of the best pieces of service I ever rendered my country. Judgment of death against those soldiers would have been as foul a stain upon this country as the executions of Quakers or witches, anciently."
In other words, Adams had a job to do and he did it. That's what defense attorneys -- like Adegbile -- do, even when the causes are unpopular. Perhaps especially when the causes are unpopular.
Senate Republican Leader Mitch McConnell opposed the nominee, saying, "Everyone deserves a fair trial and a zealous legal defense. And lawyers aren't personally responsible for the actions of their clients.
"But lawyers are responsible for their own actions. In this case, the nominee inserted his office in an effort to turn reality on its head, impugn honorable and selfless law enforcement officers, and glorify an unrepentant cop-killer," McConnell said.
Of course, McConnell's statement about Adegbile's role turns facts on its head.