Seth Abramson - Law & Order

Seth Abramson's posts are always interesting. An interesting insight into a complicated personality. And just interesting.

Lately Seth's been blogging about his time as a public defender (heroes, difficulties, bravery, etc, etc. See here and here.

In the first post Seth, among other things, really goes after Law & Order. His main point, I think, is that the show's given the American Public a completely wrong and silly idea of what the public defense system actually's like--- and I won't argue about that!

I used to watch Law & Order a lot and really enjoyed it. I never, though, believed that it was a reasonable representation of the criminal justice system. For me it's just simply a kind of soap opera. Or perhaps more accurately just a puzzle that falls quite easily into place.

And for me that's the attraction (or was the attraction.) I enjoyed watching things just slide right into place. Like a medieval representation of the world (universe!) unfurled to me over and over. Or like going into Cathedral after Cathedral. Or staring at beautiful and orderly plates in Istanbul. I'm addicted to order. Nice stable systems. And Law & Order delivers. On the other hand Seth's blog is one I often visit because it is just, on so many levels, so damned interesting.