I thought that was a reimagined Stargate SG1 ship at first

A lawyer who partners with a public defender, of all people, should be able to recognize a person trying to rehabilitate themselves.

And in my mind, we should push every possible candidate as we can and hope some of them stick instead of worry ourselves to death over every possible point of failure, failing to advance anyone of any promise because of the threat of not being quite perfect enough.

Don't most candidates have NDAs? What's the problem?

That is not to say I mistrust people who use populist arguments. Bernie Sanders uses populist arguments, but only insofar as they advance his principled objectives.

5/ Ultimately I am beginning to suspect that the ME universe is simply American neo-liberal propaganda. However, while it may critique corporate abuse, it does little to advocate against capital power excesses.

4/ They are literally under your command, but also Liara has red flags herself as a romantic prospect. She is equivalently a virginial 20 something college student that you, her literal rescuer, may be taking advantage of.

3/ He doesn't care about the rule of law, about procedure, about justice. I guess you can put him on the right path but I know he goes vigilante in the next game so clearly it doesn't stick. As for romance options, you have the two humans who have the obvious deficits from before

2/ What I didn't clock before was that Ashley is also a religious extremist, evidenced by the Shepard dialog option that implied that religion was nearly extinguished. Additionally, ACAB includes Garrus. Guy is just a bad cop.