The Wall Street Journal and Boston Magazine recently featured op-eds by HLS Professor of Law Alan Dershowitz.
In a July 7th op-ed for the Wall Street Journal entitled “Casey Anthony: The System Worked,” Dershowitz argues that despite the public outrage over Casey Anthony’s acquittal on charges that she murdered her daughter, our legal system performed in the manner in which it was intended. In the Anthony trial, wrote Dershowitz, the evidence was mainly circumstantial and therefore the defendant could not be proven guilty.
“In a murder trial, the state, with all of its power, accuses an individual of being the perpetrator of a dastardly act against a victim. The state must prove that accusation by admissible evidence and beyond a reasonable doubt.”
Read the WSJ op-ed here.
In a July 8th op-ed for Boston Magazine, “With the Bulger Brothers, the Cover-up Continues,” Dershowitz addresses the recently dropped racketeering charges against alleged mob boss Whitey Bulger.
“The government’s decision to drop racketeering charges originally brought against James Whitey Bulger in 1995 may not have been motivated by a desire to continue the cover-up of William Bulger’s role in Whitey’s crimes, but the effect is likely to be just that,” Dershowitz writes. “By throwing out these broad-based charges, the government achieves two results: it takes the case away from Chief Judge Mark Wolf [’71], who had been assigned to handle the racketeering case; and it narrows the scope of the evidence that will be heard in court.”
Read the Boston Magazine op-ed here.