In the mid-Eighties, as a young assistant United States attorney in Manhattan, I was awestruck to be rubbing elbows with renowned lawyers well on their way to celebrity in law and politics. They’d tell me time and again: Never would I have a job more challenging, character-forming, and fulfilling than that of a prosecutor. The words still ring true — even well into a second career, journalism, which I’ve loved.
Nothing quite compares to standing up in court, stating your name, and announcing to the judge, a jury, the parties, spectators, and often the media that you are there to represent the People — which is how state prosecutors refer to their client. (Feds, as I was, tell the world that we carry the torch for the United States or the government.) It doesn’t matter how run-of-the-mill a criminal case appears to be. For someone trained in the law, the courtroom is a Manichaean arena where good confronts evil; the prosecutor dons the white hat, avenging the community.
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