Galley Girl: Talking With Nancy Grace

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Nancy Grace is mad as hell, and she's not going to take it anymore. In case you think the former Atlanta prosecutor turned CNN and Court TV personality gets out all of her anger on TV, check out her fiery new book, Objection! How High-Priced Defense Attorneys, Celebrity Defendants, and a 24/7 Media Have Hijacked Our Criminal Justice System (Hyperion). Galley Girl caught up with her by phone in the CNN makeup room, waiting to do her show. Grace is nothing if not precise, answering questions in her twangy Southern accent as though she were on the witness stand:

Galley Girl: We hear that you had a perfect record as a prosecutor, with almost 100 felony convictions and no losses. What's the secret?

Nancy Grace: Well, a lot of hard work. I had a great investigator that I worked with for 10 straight years. The truth is, I really can't take the credit — the people were guilty.

GG Your fiancé, Keith, was fatally shot during a robbery two weeks before your wedding in 1980. How has his death affected your work?

NG: Those weeks and months that followed his murder were a defining time for me. I thought that I would lose my mind if I stayed in a classroom and taught, which is what I really wanted to do. I knew I had to do something. I thought by helping other crime victims have a voice in court, I'd be helping them. But what it did was cured me.

GG: In your book, you dump on defense lawyers, particularly of the star variety. Aren't they just doing their jobs?

NG: That's what they would have you believe. But this is a free country; we can choose our jobs. That's a tired excuse used by people that somehow want to explain away what they're doing. "It's just my job!"

GG: Who's the best defense lawyer in the country right now?

NG: I would have said it was Johnnie Cochran, strictly on results. I don't know who's going to follow in his footsteps, yet.

GG: You say some pretty rough things about Mark Geragos, Scott Peterson's lawyer...

NG: Well, they're all true. You do have to give Geragos credit. A lot of lawyers are actually afraid to try cases. They're house pets. You've got to give that to Geragos — he's not afraid to try a case. But I disagree with his tactics. To float such preposterous theories, such as a satanic cult killed Laci Peterson. It's ridiculous — nothing whatsoever to support it. It's basically a say-anything defense. The reality is, when you're representing someone that's guilty, you're in the position of taking that position. To me, it would be an unacceptable way to make a living. Under our adversarial system, it's okay. But that doesn't mean I have to agree with it.

GG: What was the impact of the Simpson case?

NG: I think a lot of people lost faith in our justice system.

GG: What about people who say that TV in the courtroom is the problem, with the Simpson case as Exhibit No. 1?

NG: The main problem in the Simpson case was Judge Ito losing control of the courtroom. I truly believe that the camera did not create the problem; it revealed the problem. I think that's generally true. Do you behave better when you think someone is watching? I do.

GG: What do you think would have happened if the Michael Jackson case had been televised?

NG: I would have disapproved of that. When you have a child victim, I don't think cameras should be in the courtroom, ever.

GG: Pedophilia has been in the news a lot lately. Do you have any thoughts about how society could deal better with people who sexually abuse children?

NG: I'll tell you one that's as obvious as the nose on your face: Don't let recidivists out! I don't care what any shrink will tell you. I've been in the trenches for ten years. Sex offenders do not get rehabbed. I think that it's always been that way. I hate to sound jaded — I don't believe that every criminal should go to jail, I think people with drug problems, alcohol problems, burglaries, thefts, car-jackings, anything that's not a violent crime, should be tried to be treated through rehab. I really do. But as far as pedophilia and sex crimes, I really don't think those can be rehabbed. Put 'em in, and throw away the key.