In the second part of an interview with Microjuris, veteran civil rights attorney Judith Berkan, 77, discusses her decision to leave the legal profession and her frustration with the direction of justice in Puerto Rico. Berkan, who began her career at law school in 1971 and has spent 55 years in the profession, cites 'the state of the law, the destruction of institutions, the poor quality of jurists deciding cases, and the general deterioration in Puerto Rico' as reasons for her departure.
She says that when she started, there were many avenues for creativity and unexplored areas of justice in the courts, which she believes her academic and litigation work helped expand for groups historically harmed by structures of power. She argues that today a system of law reflects its society, and that current judges and legal doctrines are being used to suppress rights, driven by abuse of power and money by certain sectors.
Berkan, whose career has included cases on police abuse, harassment, and civil rights, also criticizes the training of new generations of legal professionals, saying her students today have 'less culture than before.'