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Reviews for Legal Brief in Defence of Severus Snape

duj 2005.08.28 - 09:57AM 1: Legal Brief in Defence of Severus Snape Signed
Very interesting points here. It's a pity you were limited to 500 words per accusation as there was a lot more that could be said on every point. Some of the accusations are quite risibly incorrect. Personally I'd like to see Remus put on trial instead for being an accomplice before the fact to what he believed was Black's campaign to murder Harry in PoA. it astonishes me that almost nobody seems to realise that for almost an entire year he chose to put his own convenience above Harry's life, by suppressing not only Black's animagus capabilities (which may have incriminated him of betraying Dumbledore's trust) but also the knowledge of secret passages into Hogwarts (which did not). We can be sure he didn't reveal this information to the staff because Snape could do no more than suspect Harry's intentions when he found him loitering near the entrance to one of these; if Lupin had spoken Snape would have known Harry's purpose and been able to prevent him leaving. Moreover after confiscating the Marauders' Map he evidently kept it to himself instead of sharing the information and surveillance opportunities it afforded. One can only assume he was planning to use it to warn Sirius to leave rather than to effect his capture despite his (at the time) sincere belief in Sirius's guilt.

Author's Response: You know, everyone fawns and preens over Lupin but I agree with you 100%. He withheld crucial information that could have proved fatal. He is all Mr. Nice Guy but then when it really counts, he's down like a house of cards. This is part of what makes Snape so compelling. To paraphrase, DD, he does what is right, not what is easy. Lupin does what is within his comfort zone and nothing more. So Snape gets a trial because he isn't nice but Lupin gets away with what is tantatmount to assisting a (potential) murderer and people pat his shoulder and say "poor guy." Grrrrrr. If you want to chat further about this, by all means visit my livejournal or send me an email.

evel004 2005.08.09 - 05:17PM 1: Legal Brief in Defence of Severus Snape Anonymous
Awesome! Absolutely brilliant! Fantastic job and very professional!

Author's Response: Thanks. :-)

Lady Whitehart 2005.06.24 - 05:25PM 1: Legal Brief in Defence of Severus Snape Signed
Better than Law and Order!

Author's Response: Heeee. Thanks! :-)

Shorty McGee 2005.06.23 - 09:27PM 1: Legal Brief in Defence of Severus Snape Signed
Love it! It was wonderful. They ought to let him off!!!

Author's Response: Thanks! Let's hope they do! And even if they don't, wouldn't we love to 'get him off'. ;-)

sonof1000skinks 2005.06.16 - 02:21PM 1: Legal Brief in Defence of Severus Snape Signed
This does not add up to a true legal defense. First, you would have needed to *define* the rules of law - instead of using a regular dictionary, you should have gone to Black's Law Dictionary to find the actual *elements* of malice aforethought, treason, and assault and battery. You've used a few legal terms of art, but that doesn't make this a true legal document by any means - the rules of law and analysis of whether the elements of a crime were fulfilled by the defendant's actions are what's important in a criminal defense, not the jargon. If this document crossed an appellate judge's desk claiming to be a legal brief, s/he wouldn't accept it, first because it isn't in the right format (where's the Statement of Facts? The issue statements? The analysis? Case precedent?), and second, because there's no actual law anywhere in it. There is definitely a "legal brief style," but you haven't even come close to using it here - for example, a true legal defense would dismiss Sirius Black's statements out of hand as pure hearsay, and thus inadmissible as evidence against the defendant. What you should have done would have been to get your hands on a few appeal briefs written by the defense for some major treason cases, like "U.S. v. Dalton Lee" or the 1952 trial of Harold "Kim" Philby, a British subject who spied for the Russians, and aped the format and legal analysis used there. What you have here is a very nice little literary analysis paper using a few descriptive legal terms that any community college English professor teaching a survey class in children's literature or fantasy literature would get a great big kick out of, but this wasn't written in "legal brief style," any more than the HP books are epic poems because they contain a few verses in SS and GoF. It's fallacious to insist that it is. ~Tracy Matsushita, M.A., J.D.

Guernica 2005.06.07 - 03:17PM 1: Legal Brief in Defence of Severus Snape Signed
Hi, Gina - I just wanted to point out a few things. First off, you should really call this just "A Defense of Severus Snape," because to call this document a *legal brief* is erroneous. First, legal briefs have a very conventional, strictly dictated, and distinctive form, which you haven't used for this document. (For an entertaining example of a real legal brief, go here: http://www.apotheon.org/gunk/whitewolfcomplaint.pdf.) Second, if you were mounting a true *legal* defense, you'd have to do it according to rules of law, and cited the elements of treason, terrorism, conspiracy, assault and battery, and stated whether or not Snape's actions as described in canon satisfy the conditions for such crimes to have been committed, presented your evidence according to the established rules of evidence, and advised how the Court should rule in light of the evidence presented. You've clearly mounted a literary analysis defense here (quite a clever and thorough one at that, the points about the Foe-Glass and Lily's protection given to Harry especially were wonderfully subtle.) You've employed some legalistic jargon as a style choice due to the wording of the issues presented, but trust me, if you call this a *legal brief* in the title, you're inviting anyone with a legal background who comes across it to deconstruct it and tell you why that's not right. (And believe me, you don't want that, given that most attorneys will set you straight in a manner very much akin to that of Voldemort in a particularly pissy mood.) Sorry to be so pedantic, but all this law fol-de-rol does after all eat my soul on a fairly regular basis ;-) For all seasons, G

Author's Response: Hi Guernica. Thanks for the compliments thrown in there. I wish I had the space to write a 'real' legal defence but they limited the amount of space permitted us. So, yes, it is only in a legal brief style. I don't really care if lawyer-types take offense because I'm just putting my ideas out there for the fun of it. I enjoy getting the chance to write in a wide range of styles, and rarely does a legal angle find opportunity. So, eat at your soul I guess it shall. Take relief in knowing I won't be eating anything else of yours. ;-)

Deeble 2005.06.05 - 02:15PM 1: Legal Brief in Defence of Severus Snape Signed
Well put!

Author's Response: Merci! :-)

Verity Brown 2005.06.03 - 07:45PM 1: Legal Brief in Defence of Severus Snape Signed
Some really interesting thoughts here, including some that made me smile. (The 'protection' of Longbottom, for instance.) I hope you are selected. Good luck!

Author's Response: Thanks! I must say, I am curious to see more about the relationship between Snape and Longbottom in the next book. There's loads more to unearth there...

Vocalion 2005.06.03 - 07:23PM 1: Legal Brief in Defence of Severus Snape Signed
Very nicely written. You've convinced me! :-) Good luck, and I hope they select you!

Author's Response: Thanks! :-) I wonder if non-Snape fans wil be convinced...

greenwod 2005.06.03 - 07:01PM 1: Legal Brief in Defence of Severus Snape Anonymous
Very well done. I never thought about the last bit where Harry was able to protect himself from others touch if true harm was intended. Good one!

Author's Response: Thanks! Yah, I didn't think much of it until Vernon Dursley got shocked. I wonder if that'll show up again, maybe with Draco.

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