Last March, a handful of Democratic senators joined the entire Republican conference in refusing to confirm Debo Adegbile—the lawyer and public servant President Obama had nominated to run the Justice Department’s Civil Rights Division.

The political resistance stemmed from the overwhelming opposition of law enforcement organizations across the country: In his capacity as an attorney with the NAACP’s Legal Defense Fund, Adegbile headed a team that represented convicted cop killer Mumia Abu-Jamal. The team failed to overturn Abu-Jamal’s conviction, but they did succeed in keeping him off death row, which infuriated the Fraternal Order of Police among others.

In a body overrun by lawyers, many of whom have represented unsavory clients in the past, this should have been a non-issue. As a matter of both legal ethics and political self-preservation, the Senate should have confirmed Adegbile, and rejected the idea that a public servant can be held to account for the actions of his clients.

Instead, these Republicans and Democrats sent a chilling message to all aspiring public servants that they should steer clear of controversy after graduating from law school. And the person who articulated this message most succinctly was one of the Senate’s elite lawyers, Ted Cruz.

“Now to be clear, Mr. President, every criminal defendant is entitled to an attorney, but Adegbile’s representation of Abu Jamal was pure advocacy,” Cruz said on the Senate floor, linking Adegbile to NAACP-supported public demonstrations on Abu-Jamal’s behalf. But the implication was clear: Some clients are so heinous that bedrock principles of justice should not fully apply to them. Some accused and convicted criminals deserve to be represented only by people who are prepared to face professional sanction for their service.