From searching to saved in
America’s criminal justice system by Shanti Brien
Shanti Brien captured every aspect of the American judicial system in her memoir, “Almost Innocent,” from power dynamics to bias. In her memoir, Brien does an amazing job of meandering through her personal account of marriage, love, and victories to reveal justice and reality.
Brien is an appellant lawyer married to a former NFL kicker. He ends up in trouble and needs her help. In the course of her journey as a lawyer, Brien discovers how much of her life is comparable to those who she is defending.
In her memoir, Brien shows her tenacity as she fights against the system for her clients. Some are innocent, and others are yet unproven as guilty. Brien’s writing reveals the resistance that she receives from the courts when it comes to representing those who have an uphill battle trying to get their freedom. The percentage of her clients who obtain freedom is low — and all of them face resistance.
Responding to a federal judge who referred to appellate lawyers like herself and convicted clients fighting for freedom through the appeals process as “a waste of the tax-payers money,” an excerpt from her memoir reads:
“Instead of criminals wasting money by constantly appealing, perhaps the government is wasting tax-payers’ dollars by charging people with crimes and upholding convictions instead of admitting their mistakes. The government is responsible for criminalizing more and more behaviors, for prosecuting more and more crimes, for increasing sentences so that ten years in prison is doled out as easily as a Grande latte.”
As you read this page-turner, you will see how Shanti Brien humanizes the incarcerated. You will see how much family means to everyone she encounters, from herself to the accused she represents. You will not want to take life for granted after reading her words.
Brien’s knowledge of the system comes not only from her experience as an appellate lawyer for the convicted, but from her volunteer work with incarcerated people. She has visited the incarcerated people of San Quentin Prison, giving criminology lectures through the Mo u n t Tamalpais College program, and in return receiving invaluable insight from the incarcerated.
“Almost Innocent” is intriguing for those in the know and remarkably informative to those who do not know anything about the criminal justice system. Her scenes are as compelling as movies, and you will have to force yourself to put her book down.
