Standing O For Controversial Alan Dershowitz
By Marci Shatzman
No surprise mega defense attorney Alan Dershowitz’s talk and documentary premiere was sold out in Boca.
The controversial civil rights lawyer got zero pushback on his lifelong stance…rigorously standing up for the Constitution and the accused’s right to a “zealous defense.”
Both “The Trials of Alan Dershowitz,” and his Q&A at The Studio at Mizner Park got applause from the audience and a standing ovation. No shouting or insults from this crowd.
“I defend the civil liberties of all people,” Dershowitz said after the film about his legal career was shown.
His appearance with his Canadian director John Curtin was a lead-up to the Inaugural Boca International Jewish Film Festival Feb. 25 through March 17. The festival includes movies and live events like this with filmmakers, producers and actors at Cinemark Palace 20 in Boca Raton and Movies of Delray in suburban Delray Beach. Visit www.JFilmBoca.org for tickets and schedules.
Dershowitz has famously defended or helped defend other famous people, including O.J. Simpson, exonerated for the murder of his wife Nicole. “I did forensics on the O.J. case,” as an advisor to the Dream Team, he noted. “Our job was to give him the best possible outcome.”
Not a Nixon fan, “I’ve despised some of my clients,” he said candidly.
Speaking on the Senate floor against the impeachment of former president now presidential candidate Donald Trump didn’t win him a popularity contest among Trump opponents. No apologies.
“I’m being treated like a traitor constantly,” he said, citing instances where even his presence wasn’t welcomed socially. “If I’m coming, they don’t want to be there.”
He was relieved when an Epstein survivor withdrew her complaint against him. He never met the woman, and he’s an avid supporter of the MeToo movement, he said.
Those charges and his detractors have been tough on his family, he mentioned. But the Harvard Law School prof and civil liberties attorney stands on his principles at 85.
“You’re a very brave man,” one audience member told him.
