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How Not to Persuade

Let's say you're representing Lori Drew, a middle-aged woman who manipulated a 13-year-old girl, Megan Meier, into killing herself.  (Backstory, if you need it.).  Do you make this argument to the jury: "Megan dished it out the same way that she got it," [Lori Drew's defense lawyer] said. "There was no cyber-bullying in any way you want to describe that term."What was Lori Drew's lawyer thinking?  That the jury is going to think it's okay for a grown woman to crush a teenage girl because the teenage girl started it?  "Well, little Megan Meier could dish it, but she couldn't take it.  Yeah, so she hung herself.  That'll teach the next teenager not to get into arguments with adults."It's dangeorus to judge a lawyer's performance based on a few quotes from a pop-culture magazine, so perhaps Drew's lawyer did an otherwise fantastic job.continue to full post

Full post as published by Crime & Federalism on November 24, 2008 (boomark / email).