Messages Sent, Messages Received
Simple Justice: One of our favorite lawyer expressions is “sending a message,” used to explain why something that is otherwise inexplicable happened. It is beloved by prosecutors and judges, who “send messages” about how people shouldn’t commit crimes by seeking or imposing incredible sentences. Defense lawyers like to use it as well, but we don’t get nearly as many opportunities.
It is axiomatic that communication is comprised of two parts, sending and receiving. Lawyers focus on the sending piece, where we send messages to “society” that some conduct won’t be tolerated. What we fail to consider is the messages received, the ones that real people pick up on as a consequence of our legal system.
Message sent are almost invariably announced as such. When a judge imposes a sentence of more than 236 years in prison (without possibility of parole), she wants everyone to know that she does so to send a…