The Big Cop Out

Or shall we call it "The Dubya Defense?" Will we see it employed in criminal cases not involving presidents and war crimes? As in, "I don't think we should linger over the question of whether or not my client raped and murdered a five-year old... what is past is past, and it can't be changed. We need to look to the future..."

How long do you think it would take for any lawyer using this as a defense to be disbarred?

Open for Questions Round 2: Response | Change.gov: The Obama-Biden Transition Team

These popular questions have been answered previously by top officials or in the prior edition of “Open for Questions.”

“Will you appoint a Special Prosecutor (ideally Patrick Fitzgerald) to independently investigate the gravest crimes of the Bush Administration, including torture and warrantless wiretapping?”—Bob Fertik, New York City

Vice President-elect Biden, 12/21/08: “[T]he questions of whether or not a criminal act has been committed or a very, very, very bad judgment has been engaged in is—is something the Justice Department decides. Barack Obama and I are—President-elect Obama and I are not sitting thinking about the past. We’re focusing on the future… I’m not ruling [prosecution] in and not ruling it out. I just think we should look forward. I think we should be looking forward, not backwards.”

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