founding father of the United States
PC: The Dispatch
“It is better if five guilty persons should escape unpunished than one innocent Person should die.” – John Adams
This well-circulated quote, especially in the legal profession, is attributed to US’s second president and founding father, John Adams. This was when he represented the British 8 soldiers in the law court over the Boston Massacre.
The scenario was on March 5, 1770 when British soldiers under Captain Thomas Preston fired into a crowd of colonists and killed 5. The charge of murder leading to their own deaths should be the natural consequence. This was the era when the independence of the United States was on the front burner. Thus, the atmosphere was so intense that no lawyer was ready to stand for the soldiers in the law court.
John Adams was put on the spot – to represent or not to represent – despite his stance for US independence. He did represent the British soldiers to the angst of his community, while his law practice also suffered briefly after the case. But he took the case anyways, and represented the soldiers, alongside co-counsel Josiah Quincy II,
His radical defense was premised on the principle that even the most despised defendants deserved a fair hearing based on evidence not emotions. He then argued that the soldiers acted in self-defense against a threatening mob.
The result was that 6 of the 8 soldiers were acquitted outright while the 2 others were convicted for manslaughter rather than murder, and were punished by branding on the thumb rather than death.
John Adams indicated that the decision to defend the 8 soldiers was one of the best, most disinterested actions of his life. This is because it strengthened the rule of law and ensured that the most despised defendants should get fair representation in the law court.
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