a State's Attorney or his assistants the case is one that he should
win. All cases should be won. Even though he means to be fair, his
psychology is to win. No lawyer interested in a result can be fair. The
lawyer is an advocate trying to show that his side is right and trying
to win the case. The fact that he represents the State makes no
difference in his psychology. In fact, he always tells the jury that he
represents the State and is as much interested in protecting the
defendant as in protecting society. He does this so that the jury will
give his statements more weight than the statements of the lawyer for
the defense, and this very remark gives him an advantage that is neither
fair nor right.

The man on trial is almost always poor. It is only rarely that a poor
man can get a competent lawyer to take his case. He is often handed over
to the court for the appointment of a lawyer. The lawyer has no time or
money to prepare a defense. As a rule he is a beginner not fitted for
his job. If he wishes to take the case, he wants it only for the
experience and advertising that it will bring. He is handed a case to
experiment on, just as a medical student is handed a cadaver to dissect.
If the defendant is in jail, he has little chance to prepare his case.
If the defendant had any money he would not know what to do with it. He
is often a mentally defective person. His friends are of the same class
and can do little to help him. The jury are told that they must presume
him innocent, but the accusation alone carries with it the presumption
of guilt, which extends to everyone connected with the case, even to the
lawyer appointed to defend him. It is almost a miracle if the defendant
is not convicted.

Perhaps he is taken out to be hanged--the last act that society can do
for him, or the convicted man is sent to prison for a long or shorter
term. His head is shaved and he is placed in prison garb; he is
carefully measured and photographed in his prison clothes, so that if
he should ever get back to the world he will forever be under suspicion.
Even a change of name cannot help him. While in prison he works and
lives under lock and key, like a wild animal, eager to escape. On
certain days he is allowed to sit at a long table with other
unfortunates like himself, and visit for an hour with mother or father
or wife or son or daughter or friend on the other side. Other prisoners,
so far as he can associate with them, are as help