I got a letter recently from an incarcerated client. He’s waiting for a hearing on a motion to revoke his felony probation; one of the possible reasons for revocation is that he picked up a misdemeanor case while on probation. Before the felony, he had three misdemeanor convictions in less than a decade.

In the letter, he wrote that he “wasn’t a criminal.”

Four separate guilty pleas in six years probably qualifies this guy as a criminal in most people’s books—especially if the people are as politically conservative as he was before he started sitting in jail. But he was making an honest living, supporting his family, and voting for his conservative “tough on crime” candidates, not living as a criminal.

In all my years of practicing law, I don’t know that I’ve ever had a client who considered themself a criminal—not, at least, one who would say it out loud. I’ve represented drug traffickers who considered themselves businessmen, murderers who thought of themselves as good fathers, and rapists who saw themselves as sick people. I’ve represented lots and lots of people who have made mistakes (sometimes the same mistakes again and again and again). But nobody below the “vs.” on the pleadings seems to define himself in terms of the mistakes he has made.

I think that’s probably a good thing. Someone who defines himself in terms of past events is bound to repeat those events. For the businessman, the good father, or the sick person, bad things happen, they move on, they try to do better. But for the criminal, what else is there but crime?

Which brings us to the topic of victims. Mark Bennett wrote recently about victims’ pride in being victims (“I’m not a witness, I’m a victim!”). My concern with that pride is that the person who sees themself as a victim will be victimized over and over again. Not only do predators recognize a victim as the weak part of the herd, but the love and affirmation our sick culture gives victims is addictive.

For the victim, what else is there but victimization?