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42 ¦ JUNE 22, 2020 EXPERT OPINIONS

¦ From A SIMPLE on PAGE 41 presence at every court date except arraignment,
operations and address the emergent health the scheduled plea disposition, trial, sentencing or
and constitutional issues of incarcerated men when the court cites a specific reason to command
and women during a crisis, unfortunate results the defendant’s presence on a certain date.
occurred. Defendants were precluded from ap- Defendants should be canvassed on the waiv-
pearing before the court to seek orders allowing er with counsel present, and counsel should be
them to return to their homes and be with their charged with ensuring case developments are
families, pretrial detainees spent more time in communicated to defendants as they arise. This
prison than they should have and others became is an immediate, cost-effective step toward mak-
sick with COVID-19. ing good on the promise of reform, in line with
the goal of seeking justice and not the unintended
This column merely asks the chief justice and consequence of disrupting personal lives of the ac-
others in a position to effectuate change to under- cused. Let the lawyers do their jobs, and let the
stand that, in 2020, it is time to abandon tradition accused, who already spend their hard-earned
and custom in favor of technology, innovation money on bonds, lawyers, fees, and fines—live
and efficiency. It is time to stop scaring defendants their lives.
with the threat and consequences of failure to ¦

appear for nonessential court appearances. Defen- Civil rights and criminal defense attorney Dan-
dants should be allowed as of right to waive their iel Lage is with Ruane Attorneys in Shelton.

Big Law’s Double Talk on Racial Equality:
This You?

You know the white establish- By Vivia Chen
ment must be quaking in its
boots when someone as icy as right now to show how much their
Vogue editrix Anna Wintour is voic- firms care about racial justice. And
also like Wintour, many have been
in power for decades, doing squat to
ing contrition and offering listening change the racial dynamics at their
tours about race. (Wintour told staff own shops but suddenly finding re-
members, “I know Vogue has not ligion in Black Lives Matter.
found enough ways to elevate and I don’t mean to be overly cyni-
give space to black editors, writers, cal—because I do believe many
photographers, designers and other people are genuinely moved by the
creators. We have made mistakes, killing of George Floyd—but one
too, publishing images or stories that word comes to mind when I read
have been hurtful or intolerant.”) some of the grand corporate state-
Oh, I know you’re scratching your head wonder- ments about how much businesses are vested in
ing why I’m bringing up the dowager of high fashion the fight for racial equality: Hypocrisy. Not to state
in a column directed at lawyers. Well, like Wintour, the obvious, but law firms and corporations really
a lot of partners seem to be tripping over themselves haven’t done too well in the racial equality depart-

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