April 21, 2004

• I believe the average length is something like two or three paragraphs, give or take. As much bio as will help the letter, it's a mix of the bio and your interpretation of events. Here's a sample and Canadian Lawyers say this. as well as this one from the unfortunately domained "writing-business-letters.com".
• goetter, never did this myself, but working for lawyers and knowing a US District judge personally, I can't emphasize enough the importance of good writing skills. Your posts indicate you've got 'em - now your friend's future may depend on it. Judges get quite irritated with poor writing and it shows up in their rulings.
• Other than Canadian Lawyers say this, the only online guidance I've found has been from another Canadian lawyer. (A criminal minded bunch, those Northrons.) I do have advice from a local attorney. Basically, I'm trying to make my letter credible without coming off as a self-centered twit.
• I've found that reference letters are their own little Twilight Zone - you read one and it sounds like something from another planet, but they're all like that. So it's okay.
• just what'd your pal do, anyway? * i am curious banana-yellow *
• Drugs charge. Not to hold out on you, Dish, but we're on a publicly readable forum.
• i understand goetter. best o' luck to you and your pal! i say, go for something succinct and heartfelt.
• FWIW, I've seen more people eased up on for drug charges w/ a good charachter witness, and first offense than any other category of crime. Well, at least OUTSIDE of my own home state of NY, with it's draconian Rockefeller laws. Goddamn NY.
• if you can articulate specific character insights, two salient factors the judge persistently look for are: why did it happen and how can i be sure it won't happen again? the basis of such info is somewhere in the middle of the defence and prosecuting cases and often proves elusive. if you can comment briefly on your personal understanding of how this friend went, temporarily, astray, and identify the character facets that will confirm his learning and growing to be a more appreciative and conforming member of society, then the dilemna of sentencing is eased. 'course, that's assuming a guilty plea. if convicted by a judge or jury after a not-guilty plea, then it's best to just identify the person as having traits proving one capable of accepting and growing stronger by mistakes and problems. it must be on one page, unless you know you are a real attention-grabber. the presentation must be well spaced and easy to read, to allow for concentration should the judge get quite serious and contemplative. (they do, with the right material) i know your writing style to be lyrical and engaging, so don't totally sacrifice that for formality. (judges have to read a lot and literally appreciate a change of pace.) as for spelling and grammar, some judges will fling an offending document across the room while others don't care how a dangling participle is spelt, let alone know it's usage. better safe than sorry. establish your personal creditation in the first, short, paragraph. i am a friend of x years of x and know him through...whatever...indicating how closely you do know him. if it's through university or work, all the better to establish your identity thereby. otherwise merely provide such data as your education, employment or such. feel free to attach any degrees after your name at the end, though. you need only to establish basic credibility and status here and then let your letter do the work. remember, the letter is not about you. that you wrote a presentable letter is the immediate opening success. judges are keen to hear an offender's acknowledgement of wrong ways, a perception of the person's negative impact on society and 'what's this person got going' that will mean everybody comes out looking good. the offender, society and the wise judge. play on the personal attributes contributing positively to these questions. and definitely go for the succint and heartfelt. / sorry for going on, but my career was essentially writing pre-sentence reports and such, so i learned how to play the game and nudge in the desired direction. how could i resist your curious george?
• Some judge will look at your crediials, goetter. Meaning, if you are not an important person (in their view) then the letter will have no significance.
• Great feedback, y'all. I'm going to go cook dinner and let the ink dry on the page for a while. Thanks.
• Great comment, dxlifer. I hope I'm never in the position of writing such a letter, but if I am I will go to your comment for guidance.
• thanks, languagehat. i always was awed and pleased by the ability to tip the scales from incarceration or not by writing up the material that people would blissfully and unwittingly dump in my lap about themselves. but concerning those letters, i had a young fellow who was the driver in a car accident that killed three people, including his fiancee. no negative factors such as alcohol or speed....just plain misfortune and he was a wonderful young person who was already sufferring his own torment from it all. i told him to find a few letters for court. he returned with forty-four of them! priests, nuns, teachers, work supervisors, even the parents of his lost fiancee. it was overwhelming, so i attached them all. i concluded by saying that the court could do nothing compared to what this fellow must go through to reconcile with his god. (and i'm not religous.) he received one year probation with community service and the crown phoned my superviser to ask about me! /pardon the anecdote, but it is a very telling one for such circumstances.
• My sister's fiance was charged with drunk driving (which he was; he crashed into a fence), and when he went to court my mother wrote a letter for him. Combined with the fact that he replaced the mailbox and rebuilt the fence with his own money, he got a much smaller fine and no community service. He did lose his license for a year, which was expected regardless of letters or amends. I think in his case it was what he did to help that got him off relatively lightly. /anecdote also I think if you genuinely regret what happened and can show that to the court, it shows you're not about to do it (whatever it is) again. At least from my limited experience. But that's besides the point.