It’s a Sin to Kill a Mockingbird: The Need for Idealism in the Legal Profession

Go Set a Watchman. By Harper Lee. New York: HarperCollins. 2015. P. 278. $27.99."A Lawyer is either a social engineer or . . . a parasite on society . . . ."1Charles Hamilton HoustonIntroduction"[T]he first thing I lost in law school was the reason that I came."2This prescient quote by an unnamed law student defines, in a single sentence, our growing problem in training lawyers. From the moment he or she steps foot in a law school classroom, the future lawyer feels a strong pull to pursue a career that has nothing to do with justice. The law school experience will discourage the future lawyer from pursuing a career advocating for those in society who most need a voice. Once graduated, the young lawyer will enter a world where he or she is rewarded for billing the most hours at the highest rate, rather than for serving those with the least access to justice. As a result, most lawyers will experience a sense of purposelessness in their careers,3 and most low-income Americans will not have access to a lawyer when important interests are at stake.4The legal profession is in need of heroes-idealistic role models who will inspire today's lawyers-both to eschew the values that drive the dominant legal profession, and to address the justice gap. No person, either fictional or real, has done this for more current and future lawyers than Atticus Finch, the hero of Harper Lee's To Kill a Mockingbird.5 The book tells the story of one lawyer in one case. His heroism lies in his willingness to valiantly represent a black man accused of raping a white woman in small-town 1930s Alabama, despite the derision and hatred he and his family receive from members of the community. The book was made into an Academy Award-winning film featuring Gregory Peck, one of the nation's biggest Hollywood stars. Together, the book and the movie captured the public imagination, presenting a model of what a lawyer should be: a vehicle through which we can realize our most noble ideals, even in the face of great opposition. Mockingbird inspired the nation to believe in its system of justice and to revere the role of the lawyer at its foundation.But even though he has been enshrined among the nation's greatest folk heroes, Atticus is not without detractors. There have been critics who, despite Atticus's dedicated representation of Tom Robinson, fault him for doing little to challenge the racist structure of Maycomb, Alabama, the fictional setting of Mockingbird. And recently, the publication of Go Set a Watchman- Lee's second novel, written before Mockingbird but discovered decades later6-in which an older Atticus harbors racist ideas, has led many to renounce the Atticus of Mockingbird, characterizing him as a lawyer and a person not worthy of admiration.As a law professor and the president of a non-profit organization that trains and supports public defenders in some of our nation's most broken criminal justice systems, I regularly work with current and future lawyers. Many of these lawyers struggle to maintain their idealism in arenas-both academic and professional-that frequently promote values inconsistent with the principles they strive to embrace. From this perspective, I appreciate having a popular culture symbol, like Atticus, that both reminds us of the noble role a lawyer can play in addressing injustice and inspires our profession to be better.One can certainly look beyond the story of Mockingbird to paint a less flattering picture of Atticus-whether by arguing that he did not do enough to promote the cause of justice, or by claiming that the Atticus of Watchman is the same as the Atticus of Mockingbird. But doing so is not necessary. Atticus is a fictional character. In an effort to destroy the hero, we can always speculate about who Atticus is beyond his representation of Tom Robinson. But we can also choose to look to the story of Mockingbird as one that stands alone-a story about one lawyer in one case doing what is righteous and noble. …