Sadly, even in jurisdictions where the public defender is better funded their role in most cases is more to cut plea bargains and "strongly encourage" their clients to accept them by waiving their constitutional rights to a trial, to confront and cross-examine the prosecution witnesses, and to present a defense.
In this role, the public defender is more a processor of bodies in an assembly-line than a lawyer providing zealous representation to a client beyond their best pitch for a plea bargain at the pretrial conference.
The default in every criminal case should be a jury trial with a fully prepared lawyer whom has asked an investigator to interview all potential defense witnesses.
Judge's and politicians don't like that approach, but too bad. A lawyer should never forget who his client is.
In this role, the public defender is more a processor of bodies in an assembly-line than a lawyer providing zealous representation to a client beyond their best pitch for a plea bargain at the pretrial conference.
The default in every criminal case should be a jury trial with a fully prepared lawyer whom has asked an investigator to interview all potential defense witnesses.
Judge's and politicians don't like that approach, but too bad. A lawyer should never forget who his client is.
2
Mr. Bunton: Thank you for sharing your story and the stand you are taking.
9
When the poor finally become fed up with the systemic imprisonment and bring the grievances to the streets as they did in Ferguson and Baltimore, will we arrest and imprison them all? I was just wondering.
7
Poor defendants are not the only ones who are harmed. In every case of exoneration the murderer/thief remained free, likely to commit more offenses. As documented by the Times, police mete out punishment and perhaps one reason is they know the courts cannot manage the backlog. Faith in the system continues to deteriorate. Some Republicans believe that is a positive outcome, but history warns us that it leads to violent ends, and the wealthy will be the first targets.
We are abandoning the values that built this nation and passing on the consequences to future generations. These consequences will be far more extreme than the results of an increased national debt.
We are abandoning the values that built this nation and passing on the consequences to future generations. These consequences will be far more extreme than the results of an increased national debt.
8
Apple is NOT "right"! They should be obeying the judges. Of course, no Apple people are in the terrorist cross-hairs, I suppose, so why worry about protecting us normal Americans? Selfishness rules among the "not in harms way" rich.....
I am a young attorney and was fortunate enough to find employment after law school. Many of my peers we're not so fortunate, and remain unemployed or working outside of the profession years after graduating and passing multiple bar exams.
There are many MANY new, capable lawyers who could be trained to tackle many of the cases clogging PD offices or being doled out to assigned counsel. Taking on this kind of representation is daunting, however, and most new attorneys (and plenty of experienced civil practitioners) are unfamiliar with the arcane procedural practices of local criminal courts and the equally mystifying horse-trading that goes on between prosecution and defense prior to arraignment. Few things are as daunting to a new attorney as knowing that the only thing standing between a client's liberty and incarceration or fines is a limited set of essentially theoretical skills, supplemented perhaps with a little lore gleaned from the rare mentor or underfunded law school clinic.
There is a real opportunity to use the current and predicted glut of attorneys to help take some of the pressure off of beleaguered PD offices while simultaneously empowering a new generation of lawyers. There are obviously questions of training, supervision, and compensation (if any), but I know of few peers who wouldn't jump at the chance to chip away at a titanic mound of debt or earn CLE credit while getting the kind of practical education that starts only after law school ends.
There are many MANY new, capable lawyers who could be trained to tackle many of the cases clogging PD offices or being doled out to assigned counsel. Taking on this kind of representation is daunting, however, and most new attorneys (and plenty of experienced civil practitioners) are unfamiliar with the arcane procedural practices of local criminal courts and the equally mystifying horse-trading that goes on between prosecution and defense prior to arraignment. Few things are as daunting to a new attorney as knowing that the only thing standing between a client's liberty and incarceration or fines is a limited set of essentially theoretical skills, supplemented perhaps with a little lore gleaned from the rare mentor or underfunded law school clinic.
There is a real opportunity to use the current and predicted glut of attorneys to help take some of the pressure off of beleaguered PD offices while simultaneously empowering a new generation of lawyers. There are obviously questions of training, supervision, and compensation (if any), but I know of few peers who wouldn't jump at the chance to chip away at a titanic mound of debt or earn CLE credit while getting the kind of practical education that starts only after law school ends.
16
Well ..... you may lay this budget cut, along with other budget cuts that have lessened the quality of life is some way, squarely at the feet of the Jindal gang.
Why he hasn't been arrested is probably due to budget cuts (that's not a joke... well, maybe a small joke).
But forget Jindal - he is history.
The Public Defenders Office is one of many suffering from Jindal's mismanagement (malfeasance?). I understand LSU keeps a bankruptcy petition at the ready. Healthcare and education are always in Republican cross-hairs. So, Mr. Burton is in a large crowd.
There is a new governor in Louisiana working to solve these problems. They are not that difficult to solve. Goods and services require money. Money requires taxes. Taxes? Yep, taxes.
But not only taxes. The monies must be managed by honest public servants instead of ......you know. Hopefully, John Bel Edwards is that honest servant.
One final word, if I may.
Those of you threatening to avoid traveling to New Orleans and Louisiana... please reconsider. You will only miss out on the most interesting city, history, and culture(s) in all of our 50 states - plus a really good time with new friends.
Plus I get to say: Bienvenue mes Amis. I like to say that.
Why he hasn't been arrested is probably due to budget cuts (that's not a joke... well, maybe a small joke).
But forget Jindal - he is history.
The Public Defenders Office is one of many suffering from Jindal's mismanagement (malfeasance?). I understand LSU keeps a bankruptcy petition at the ready. Healthcare and education are always in Republican cross-hairs. So, Mr. Burton is in a large crowd.
There is a new governor in Louisiana working to solve these problems. They are not that difficult to solve. Goods and services require money. Money requires taxes. Taxes? Yep, taxes.
But not only taxes. The monies must be managed by honest public servants instead of ......you know. Hopefully, John Bel Edwards is that honest servant.
One final word, if I may.
Those of you threatening to avoid traveling to New Orleans and Louisiana... please reconsider. You will only miss out on the most interesting city, history, and culture(s) in all of our 50 states - plus a really good time with new friends.
Plus I get to say: Bienvenue mes Amis. I like to say that.
10
What Mr. Bunton has written is both outrageous and un-American. All citizens, irrespective of the ability to pay, are entitled to the most robust representation that we can offer them. This premise is not negotiable. Gideon v. Wainwright has made this premise the law of the land.
I write as a court-recognized testifying expert witness. The most satisfying cases that I have worked are those where the Defendant has been exonerated. These cases include: arson, drug issues, and murder.
It is not an exaggeration to have a freed Defendant thank me "for giving them their life back." My objective is to apply the facts to the case. There is no greater feeling of joy, especially as Easter and Passover approach, for a jury to find a Defendant not guilty and/or for a Prosecutor to dismiss a case.
The key is that the appropriators must allocate sufficient resources to pass both Constitutional and Statutory precedent. When the available resources do not ensure adequate representation for a Defendant, then the system has failed the Defendant. It is appalling and unacceptable not to amend this status quo, that does such grave damage to this country and the freedoms extant.
I write as a court-recognized testifying expert witness. The most satisfying cases that I have worked are those where the Defendant has been exonerated. These cases include: arson, drug issues, and murder.
It is not an exaggeration to have a freed Defendant thank me "for giving them their life back." My objective is to apply the facts to the case. There is no greater feeling of joy, especially as Easter and Passover approach, for a jury to find a Defendant not guilty and/or for a Prosecutor to dismiss a case.
The key is that the appropriators must allocate sufficient resources to pass both Constitutional and Statutory precedent. When the available resources do not ensure adequate representation for a Defendant, then the system has failed the Defendant. It is appalling and unacceptable not to amend this status quo, that does such grave damage to this country and the freedoms extant.
12
A totally failed Justice system is a precursor to revolution. We need to fix this or our entire system of government will collapse.
22
This is disgraceful. Though I am not a Sanders supporter, this is one of the reasons he has so much traction. When the richest country in the World cannot "afford" to provide even the lowest common denominator of protection to its neediest citizens, something is terribly wrong. America has gone so far in the "Me-Me!" direction that we don't even seem to care about our fellow citizens. Shame on us!
43
I don't see how this is not unconstitutional and a violation of these defendant's rights under the right to representation. If there aren't enough defense lawyers who can in good conscience do a good job of representation, then it is a de facto violation of the right to representation. The Constitution is silent on the ability to pay; therefore, under the ethos of the preamble, that is the will to "establish justice, insure domestic tranquility, provide for the common defense, promote the general welfare, and secure the blessings of liberty to ourselves and our posterity", I believe these defense lawyers across all states in similar situations, take their case to the Supreme Court.
20
What is happening in New Orleans is unfortunately a extreme case of what is happening all over America. In reality the criminal justice systems in many places are a budgetary tool used against those in society who can least afford it. Minor offenses arbitrarily enforced can lead to a domino effect of misfortune for many people. Just think if you are barely making your rent and putting food on the table and you get a ticket for $50-100. Where does that money come from when you then have to take off time from work to appear before a judge who could care less if your kids go hungry or can't do their homework because your lights have been turned off.
And if you get into anything really serious that requires a lawyer and are lucky enough to get a public defender, they are under prepared on a level that is gross negligence and would be grounds for disbarment or at the very least censure. They force you to take a plea deal by telling you outright they don't have the time or resources to adequately prepare a defense no matter how emphatically you state your innocent.
Ultimately criminal justice is not about guilt or innocence. It is about being able to afford good representation.
And if you get into anything really serious that requires a lawyer and are lucky enough to get a public defender, they are under prepared on a level that is gross negligence and would be grounds for disbarment or at the very least censure. They force you to take a plea deal by telling you outright they don't have the time or resources to adequately prepare a defense no matter how emphatically you state your innocent.
Ultimately criminal justice is not about guilt or innocence. It is about being able to afford good representation.
8
Why does a wealthy OPEC state like Louisiana have one of the highest poverty rates? When I go there to visit family I see endless farms, huge refineries, chemical plants, thriving banks, a rebuilt (New Orleans), vibrant Baton Rouge and steady shipping traffic sailing past. The jobs on the rigs offshore and onshore pay well. Excellent universities like LSU and Tulane. The place is hardly Haiti or Mississippi.
2
Yet another example of how Reagan era economics has choked investment in America and crippled government institutions disabling them to the point they cannot do the job they were designed to do. The economic environment of the late 70's and 80's was dominated by hyper inflation and soaring interest rates. Capital was expensive and reducing government demand for capital by cutting taxes and reducing government spending made sense.
Today's economic reality is completely opposite. Capital is cheap. The ten year US Treasury note has hovered near 2% for more than 7 years. Corporate balance sheets have never been more cash heavy. Demand for capital is almost non-existent and investors struggle to find a rate of return greater than 3%.
Let's invest in America. Let's hire enough new graduates, many who carry substantial student loans, to adequately staff our public defenders office, our SEC, our FDA, our VA hospitals, our EPA.
We are frustrated when our agencies do not perform as expected, but as highlighted by this important column, much of the dysfunction and inefficiency is rooted in inadequate resources.
Let's get money flowing in our economy once again. Let's put money into the hands of people who are at the beginning of their economically productive life. Those people who will rent a new apartment, get married, buy a new home and raise a new family. This is the engine we need now, not economic contraction, but economic expansion. Let's invest in America!
Today's economic reality is completely opposite. Capital is cheap. The ten year US Treasury note has hovered near 2% for more than 7 years. Corporate balance sheets have never been more cash heavy. Demand for capital is almost non-existent and investors struggle to find a rate of return greater than 3%.
Let's invest in America. Let's hire enough new graduates, many who carry substantial student loans, to adequately staff our public defenders office, our SEC, our FDA, our VA hospitals, our EPA.
We are frustrated when our agencies do not perform as expected, but as highlighted by this important column, much of the dysfunction and inefficiency is rooted in inadequate resources.
Let's get money flowing in our economy once again. Let's put money into the hands of people who are at the beginning of their economically productive life. Those people who will rent a new apartment, get married, buy a new home and raise a new family. This is the engine we need now, not economic contraction, but economic expansion. Let's invest in America!
8
100+ plus years of Democrat Mayors and Governors, and you're talking about REAGAN?
Amazing what liberal Democrats will resort to when evidence is all around them about the corruption and the sleaze of their own Party.
Sad, James.
Sad.
Amazing what liberal Democrats will resort to when evidence is all around them about the corruption and the sleaze of their own Party.
Sad, James.
Sad.
2
Many crimes have been perpetrated upon the citizens of Louisiana, dating back to French times. Huey Long, anyone?
2
Not sure which way you're invoking Long. His legacy is mixed: on the one hand, he was as likely to indulge in graft as any other Louisiana pol - that is, he inevitably - and not only could he hold a grudge so tightly it screamed for mercy, he could eat his vengeance with an icepick. OTOH he's one of the few pols who actually DID something for the poor of Louisiana - for which the entrenched reactionary elite hated him - building infrastructure, providing schoolbooks to children, etc. And for a Southern politician of the time, he was remarkably un-racist and abstained from playing the 'race card' to pander to poor whites. Louisiana could do a lot worse than Huey Long - and usually has.
2
Sounds like a third world country.
5
The criminal justice system there IS like a third world country. I know this first hand. I was convicted of a relatively minor marijuana charge in 1976. As part of my sentencing (which was basically probation), I had to serve 90 days in the parish prison (I was released after only 49 days). This was in Shreveport, LA, which is in Caddo Parish. Here is my point: I was in an open dormitory (no doors) which held 30 men. I was 1 of 4 white men, along with 26 black men. The population in Shreveport then was 55% white & 45% black. 40 Years later, & I have to say it has gotten worse.
5
Same old story. GOP States are unable to provide services because of their tax policies. As usual the poor and minority take the brunt. Why do these people get elected?
10
Clearly the public defenders are underfunded and undermanned. How are the prosecutors getting their money? To be fair, the two should be getting their funding from the same source - AND the defense needs to get a bigger portion of the pie than the prosecution gets. Why? Because the prosecution gets to choose the charges, how big of a case it will be, and they get the police work for free.
14
The right to representation is just one more element of our civil society that has been battered by the Republic obsession with no more taxes, budget deficits, and budget cutting. Public health, public education, public transportation and infrastructure all seem to receive short shrift when it comes time to develop spending priotities.
You often hear politicians say something akin to, " in these times of tight budgets, hard choices must be made." But this rationale ignores the fact that tight budgets themselves are a conscious decision and they can decide to increase budget by raising taxes or borrowing money now when interest rates are historically low. The first political decision they make is to provide inadequate budgets. The subsequent decisions may be hard for them to justify to the electorate, but they are rarely hard on the politicians themselves or their benefactors.
You often hear politicians say something akin to, " in these times of tight budgets, hard choices must be made." But this rationale ignores the fact that tight budgets themselves are a conscious decision and they can decide to increase budget by raising taxes or borrowing money now when interest rates are historically low. The first political decision they make is to provide inadequate budgets. The subsequent decisions may be hard for them to justify to the electorate, but they are rarely hard on the politicians themselves or their benefactors.
8
The documentary "Gideon's Army," which premiered at the Sundance Film Festival in 2013 and also played on HBO, illustrates well the commitment public defenders have to their clients and the pressures on them to move on to more lucrative employment. It is an excellent film and should be seen by anyone who cares about our justice system and our democracy.
8
This is what happens when we, as a society, decide tax cuts are more important than all else.
5
I don't disagree, but you have to remember Louisiana has a long history of injustice based not only on race but on income. There has always been a reactionary elite that maintains its power through divide-and-conquer, pitting the poor whites against the blacks. Now, I know you're going to say, 'so how is that different from anywhere else in the Deep South?' (If you're really in a cynical mood, add, 'or anywhere else in the country - consider, e.g., how Boston reacted to busing in the 1960s'). To explain and explore would be an entire essay. Suffice it to say that it's not just a matter of keeping taxes low.
2
As a former Public Defender (in another nation), I can affirm what Attorney Bunton tells us. Without a defense system, the justice (processing) system could not operate.
3
Business as usual, especially, but certainly not only, in Louisiana. It is an Alice in Wonderland system that funds itself through the people least able to pay.
What might make more sense would be to reduce the fines and fees charged the defendants - if not eliminate them entirely for those below a certain income level. In Louisiana, that threshold would have to be set very low, as NOLA is among the poorest cities in America, possibly *the* poorest.
Instead, fund the system through a special tax or assessment on private practice civil lawyers, again above a certain income threshold, who are admitted to the Louisiana Bar or who practice in Louisiana through reciprocal arangements.
Louisiana, and New Orleans especially, is the home of large oil companies with battalions of high-priced lawyers. I expect Exxon et al. would just pony up as a cost of doing business.
What's to stop all those lower-tier lawyers, small-firm or sole practitioners, moving out of state? Hm. As I recall, Louisiana's state law is unique in being based, not on English common law as most of the other states, but France's Code Napoleon, and the differences persist in many areas of civil law down to this day. Especially if you've established a practice in Louisiana, mastering the niceties of state law, I doubt you'll want to go back to law school to sharpen your competence in some other state's law, not to mention pulling up your roots, getting admitted to the bar(s), re-establishing a practice, etc.
What might make more sense would be to reduce the fines and fees charged the defendants - if not eliminate them entirely for those below a certain income level. In Louisiana, that threshold would have to be set very low, as NOLA is among the poorest cities in America, possibly *the* poorest.
Instead, fund the system through a special tax or assessment on private practice civil lawyers, again above a certain income threshold, who are admitted to the Louisiana Bar or who practice in Louisiana through reciprocal arangements.
Louisiana, and New Orleans especially, is the home of large oil companies with battalions of high-priced lawyers. I expect Exxon et al. would just pony up as a cost of doing business.
What's to stop all those lower-tier lawyers, small-firm or sole practitioners, moving out of state? Hm. As I recall, Louisiana's state law is unique in being based, not on English common law as most of the other states, but France's Code Napoleon, and the differences persist in many areas of civil law down to this day. Especially if you've established a practice in Louisiana, mastering the niceties of state law, I doubt you'll want to go back to law school to sharpen your competence in some other state's law, not to mention pulling up your roots, getting admitted to the bar(s), re-establishing a practice, etc.
My late aunt, Martha Innes, was given the assignment to translate Louisiana laws from French into English straight out of Tulane Law School. Lawyers around the state often chided her about that project, 'rewriting Louisiana laws' as her translations still stand to this day. She practiced law serving the very poorest Parish residents almost to her last day.
1
This is an example of the American unjust criminal justice system that fuels the "for profit" prison industrial complex...it keeps the prison beds full with black and brown bodies and billions of dollar flowing to private corporation.
9
Yet another reminder to me that my vow never to visit the backward entities under the Mason-Dixon was a wise one. Not that justice reigns supreme outside the southern abyss, or that rampant cronyism and crooked civil servants don't fill the offices and hallways of the public buildings, but there seems to be a definite inclination below the Line to remain racist, to remain inclusive, and to remain ignorant. Staying up here, thanks.
2
http://commonwealthmagazine.org/uncategorized/004-public-defender-blues/
Massachusetts seems to have a few problems, as well. One of my children has served as a public defender in two Northern states and has had unbelievably heavy caseloads in both. In one of those states, a judge ordered a single parent who worked as a Walmart cashier to pay a fine of $2000 because she had failed to appear in court, probably to avoid losing her job. So much for sympathy for the poor...
One issue is that some defendants who have no intention of going to trial put off saying so until the last minute, meaning that the public defender must waste a considerable amount of time preparing a trial defense anyway. Another source of frustration for public defenders is the difficulty in getting some clients to understand that even minor offenses can become serious, as too many of them can add up to a felony. Another is the disparity of resources in larger metropolitan areas, where public defenders may be assisted by investigators, and smaller cities, where such assistance is not available.
Massachusetts seems to have a few problems, as well. One of my children has served as a public defender in two Northern states and has had unbelievably heavy caseloads in both. In one of those states, a judge ordered a single parent who worked as a Walmart cashier to pay a fine of $2000 because she had failed to appear in court, probably to avoid losing her job. So much for sympathy for the poor...
One issue is that some defendants who have no intention of going to trial put off saying so until the last minute, meaning that the public defender must waste a considerable amount of time preparing a trial defense anyway. Another source of frustration for public defenders is the difficulty in getting some clients to understand that even minor offenses can become serious, as too many of them can add up to a felony. Another is the disparity of resources in larger metropolitan areas, where public defenders may be assisted by investigators, and smaller cities, where such assistance is not available.
1
This is not even remotely acceptable. I know Mr. Bunton is writing to shed light on injustice, not to be thanked, but if I may, I'd like to thank him and his colleagues for continuing to work under these kinds of conditions. I can't even really begin to understand the toll that must take on a person, professionally and personally. They deserve our deepest gratitude.
17
As the Constitution guarantees the right to counsel, this sounds like it could be considered a violation of civil liberties. I would like to hear from the ACLU as to whether this is a case they could take and pursue until it reaches higher courts. If California can be ordered to reduce its prison population, even if it means releasing prisoners, I would think there could be a legal remedy to this problem through the courts.
7
To Jimmy from Greenville, NC: find a dictionary, look up theword "empathy." My mother used to have a saying when she encountered the less fortunate, "There, but for the grace of God, go I."
4
"In response [to the lack of public defenders] judges are ordering private lawyers to take poor clients."
As a lawyer who has had an office practice, I see several problems here.
1. Being ordered to represent a client is involuntary servitude, which violates the US Constitution. Presumably failure to comply with the order would result in contempt proceedings.
2. Even when public defenders represent criminal defendants, later on in the proceeding defendants have been known to raise the defense of ineffective or inadequate defense counsel.
Now go pluck a lawyer out of private practice, which may not even include experience appearing in court, much less the intricacies of the criminal defense system, and you have a miscarriage of justice in the making.
3. Legal ethics forbid lawyers from taking on work in fields with which they are unfamiliar unless they educate themselves adequately or associate with someone who knows the field.
Who is going to pay the hapless business lawyer who has been ordered to represent a criminal defendant while the business lawyer gets up to speed in criminal law and procedure?
And what lawyer would want to associate with a criminal law neophyte when the defendant is indigent and there are no prospects of getting paid?
As a lawyer who has had an office practice, I see several problems here.
1. Being ordered to represent a client is involuntary servitude, which violates the US Constitution. Presumably failure to comply with the order would result in contempt proceedings.
2. Even when public defenders represent criminal defendants, later on in the proceeding defendants have been known to raise the defense of ineffective or inadequate defense counsel.
Now go pluck a lawyer out of private practice, which may not even include experience appearing in court, much less the intricacies of the criminal defense system, and you have a miscarriage of justice in the making.
3. Legal ethics forbid lawyers from taking on work in fields with which they are unfamiliar unless they educate themselves adequately or associate with someone who knows the field.
Who is going to pay the hapless business lawyer who has been ordered to represent a criminal defendant while the business lawyer gets up to speed in criminal law and procedure?
And what lawyer would want to associate with a criminal law neophyte when the defendant is indigent and there are no prospects of getting paid?
7
INJUSTICE IN LA Where there are too few public defenders for the number of cases coming before the courts. From the description in the article, it seems that if you are poor and a person of color who is in the wrong place at the wrong time. Or even not in the wrong place at the wrong time, you can be arrested and put on trial for your life. Yes, that happened in a case described in the article. I shudder to think what's in the drinking water there! What is described sounds more like a third world country than the US. I wonder, all these years after the Civil Rights marches of the 60s, things have gone backward. Now citizens have cell phones that produce videos that can be placed on the internet instantaneously. Is that the first and last line of defense in LA? That would seem to be the case. I guess it's just another example of what the victory of the GOP means in LA and elsewhere.
4
This is truly a disgrace. This gives new meaning to the phrase justice delayed is justice denied.
19
We are finally paying the real price for two pieces of American injustice -- the use of enforcement fines and fees to pay for government functions and the war on drugs. Originally, both were justified with brief, glib phrases, which made it easy for conservatives to sell the actions to their supporters. Unfortunately, both actions are horribly misguided. It is a conflict of interest for a government unit to depend upon enforcement fines to support enforcement activities -- hence the infamous Southern Speed Traps. And by criminalizing harmless substances like marijuana, vast numbers of citizens have been converted into criminals to no societal benefit. Who pays the huge bills generated by the legal defense of these "criminals"? Who pays for their eventual incarceration? How to raise these funds? Why --- let's use enforcement fines. Round and round we go, to the benefit of none (except possibly those who run the privatized prisons) and the lifelong harm of those who are caught in the system. The solution is pretty obvious, but not exactly speedy. Decriminalize trivial substances like pot and prevent government units from using enforcement fines to cover operating expenses. Then, there might be a chance to have the entire electorate pay for government functions that we all enjoy. And just maybe we will have the added benefit that law enforcement will worry more about citizen safety than making arrest quotas.
59
There is a class of people that benefit from idiotic "tough on crime" laws: the very rich, who have always played working class whites off against the poor and minorities in order to keep them voting against their financial self-interest.
3
Did not Justice Scalia deny the existence of a right to a public defender? Maybe the under-funding of public defenders is simply the implementation by local governments of his dissent by fiscal policy?
1
"The poor are the ones who are hurt."
Unfortunately that's not a bug, it's a feature of our current system.
There is a presumption that the poor are morally deficient - lazy, irresponsible, dishonest takers - and that all they want is "free stuff" because they've been "coddled" by "liberals" who think they deserve things like legal representation.
It's telling that most of these unrepresented people are young African-American men, since most right-wingers consider them to be the most morally deficient of all.
Unfortunately that's not a bug, it's a feature of our current system.
There is a presumption that the poor are morally deficient - lazy, irresponsible, dishonest takers - and that all they want is "free stuff" because they've been "coddled" by "liberals" who think they deserve things like legal representation.
It's telling that most of these unrepresented people are young African-American men, since most right-wingers consider them to be the most morally deficient of all.
3
Its a vicious cycle to arrest people to create revenue, then incur costs to try and jail them. The state is arresting people to generate revenue for the justice system, but spending so much more on the justice system they seem to require an ever increasing number of arrests. Couldn't the state save money by not putting these small traffic violations through the courts? What is it benefiting?
2
I hope all the constitutional originalists in line to pay their respects read this and bring their energy/vitriol to piece together the shreds of the 6th amendment. And peril to him who decides to be born poor in America.
9
New Orleans is the home of the Federal Fifth Circuit Court which is notorious for the extreme conservatism of its members. Defendants don't have much of a chance.
4
When are we going to accept that our "free market" approach to due process only works for those who have plenty of money? The biases are profound, and justice has become a joke. The basic problem is a lack of oversight of the legal industry.
8
Jindal’s legacy to America...
7
a far bigger problem than that-name calling and blaming one person doesn't help
1
The only union I disagree with is the prison guards union. They are protecting and promoting their own cause by helping to put in as many people as they can on to the conveyor belt to prison. (And really- this is the New York Times. I know you have no money, but "Eight five percent of these defendant..." You fired the proofreader's first?
1
Maybe this will become a deterrent to a life of crime. If the criminal knows in advance he will get no free legal help then maybe he or she will walk that straight and narrow path to a healthy lifestyle.
1
No need to bother with the constitution then...
3
Did you read the article? That 32-year old man arrested for "domestic terrorism" WAS walking the straight and narrow, yet if he had been poor he'd be in jail now.
4
....and what about the poor person who is wrongly accused? I suppose "innocent until proven guilty in a court of law" is an outmoded anachronism..
3
Florida actively discriminates against public defenders. Their state pension is far less than that of prosecutors and police. Prosecutors have more secretarial and administrative support, and lower case loads.
Just the ingredients you would need for a system designed to discriminate against the poor.
Just the ingredients you would need for a system designed to discriminate against the poor.
29
Donald Trump is leading the GOP nomination race in large part because he proposes building a wall for which he will demand that Mexico pay. It is tempting to hoist our problems onto the communities from which those problems seem to emanate. Tempting, but flawed. Not only is it unfair to deny our role and complicity in deeper causes, but it fixes nothing. In our criminal system, as in immigration, as elsewhere, we have to acknowledge root causes to address them, even when it means personal sacrifice on behalf of alleged wrongdoers.
1
Reprehensible... as much as they could use my dollars if I vacationed there, I cannot in good conscious ever spend my money there
4
An alternative take would be that you would benefit the locals more by making it a point to spend your dollars there - they need them. Your solution preserves the pristine purity of your conscience while not benefitting them one bit.
How very sad and yet ironic that some version of the Michigan "emergency manager" law has not been created and used to take over the government functions of states who are not funding basic government functions such as insuring the Constitutional rights of accused individuals are protected in a state judicial system. Certainly many functions of LA state government would fall into the category of not being funded or administered for the benefit state residents.
Like the cities of Detroit and Flint, the crisis in LA state government is a situation where the "will"of the voters in consistently electing those unable to competently manage a state needs to be ignored and those officials from Gov. Jindal to the state legislature need to be replaced by a competent "emergency manager" with the powers to sell state assets, nullify contracts and allocate state funds.
The obsolete construction of artificial "state" boundaries which permit US citizens to suffer the currently wide variation in the quality of state services must be challenged. Letting the poor of LA suffer from an unfunded public defender system while the poor in other states have access to a better model is "cruel and unusual" punishment. Some services need to be national in funding and control--especially in states with corrupt incompetent and governments.
Like the cities of Detroit and Flint, the crisis in LA state government is a situation where the "will"of the voters in consistently electing those unable to competently manage a state needs to be ignored and those officials from Gov. Jindal to the state legislature need to be replaced by a competent "emergency manager" with the powers to sell state assets, nullify contracts and allocate state funds.
The obsolete construction of artificial "state" boundaries which permit US citizens to suffer the currently wide variation in the quality of state services must be challenged. Letting the poor of LA suffer from an unfunded public defender system while the poor in other states have access to a better model is "cruel and unusual" punishment. Some services need to be national in funding and control--especially in states with corrupt incompetent and governments.
3
That relatively trivia fees are charged for representation or guilty pleas will not impress most readers of the Times. After all, they sit in comfortable chairs at clean tables reading their subscriptions from an expensive computer screen while sipping coffee costing $3 a cup. They'll go to work wearing clothes costing $200 or more, and later will spend $25 on lunch. They may spend $100 just on parking for a day. What can impress them is the fact that a large majority of these defendants are so poor that a $40 fee is an insurmountable problem.
It is not possible to understand poverty unless you've seen it up close and intimate. No amount of book learning will substitute for direct, prolonged exposure. Until you've sat across a table at someone who looks away and begins to cry when told they must come up with $10 to pay a notary, you haven't felt poverty.
We have our share of poverty here in Louisiana. It affects both black and white. But race fades to irrelevance in comparison to the severity of the social and economic problems faced by the poor. You who only sit in Starbucks with your expensive lattes might consider a year of work in a dirty urban slum or trashy rural dog patch. Then you'd see how meaningless race really is, and you'd be much richer for your experience.
It is not possible to understand poverty unless you've seen it up close and intimate. No amount of book learning will substitute for direct, prolonged exposure. Until you've sat across a table at someone who looks away and begins to cry when told they must come up with $10 to pay a notary, you haven't felt poverty.
We have our share of poverty here in Louisiana. It affects both black and white. But race fades to irrelevance in comparison to the severity of the social and economic problems faced by the poor. You who only sit in Starbucks with your expensive lattes might consider a year of work in a dirty urban slum or trashy rural dog patch. Then you'd see how meaningless race really is, and you'd be much richer for your experience.
33
Unfortunately, in 2016 post-Reagan America, just the idea of the huge underclass we now have is too tempting for most to take another sip on that latte, put the music on, and continue to avoid the question as they have done for thirty years now. Tech toys in particular have been great at insulating people from those glaring facts that are right against their noses-that person in the glass at Starbucks may not even get one of those cups of coffee today. Very different from say, America 1974. These people have NO concept of poverty, and the disturbing nature of it makes them keep it completely out of their worlds. No filmstrips on the Great Depression like we had in the 60's.. Not for them, they are too precious and perfect to look at stuff like that.
2
Dickens' Mrs Jellyby is alive and well.
Recently I read Paul Theroux's most recent travelogue, 'Deep South,' in which he describes poverty so dire as to be almost unimaginable, places that can only aspire to the descriptions 'Third World' or 'squalid'. Theroux asks the locals at almost every stop about the initiatives of the foundations formed and headed by Bill Clinton and Bill Gates. And at each stop he's told the charitable billionaires are not interested in spreading the largesse down South. All their resources go to the Third World, like Mrs Jellyby in Bleak House weeping for the natives of distant Booribooloo-Gha while ignoring the suffering of her family and neighbours right at her feet.
We don't want to help the South; much more satisfying to heap scorn on them as ignorant racists and inbred yahoos. The Third World is safely 'other', giving us that dollop of smug condescension we need to imbibe with that latte, without the bitter undernote of 'there but for fortune'.
Recently I read Paul Theroux's most recent travelogue, 'Deep South,' in which he describes poverty so dire as to be almost unimaginable, places that can only aspire to the descriptions 'Third World' or 'squalid'. Theroux asks the locals at almost every stop about the initiatives of the foundations formed and headed by Bill Clinton and Bill Gates. And at each stop he's told the charitable billionaires are not interested in spreading the largesse down South. All their resources go to the Third World, like Mrs Jellyby in Bleak House weeping for the natives of distant Booribooloo-Gha while ignoring the suffering of her family and neighbours right at her feet.
We don't want to help the South; much more satisfying to heap scorn on them as ignorant racists and inbred yahoos. The Third World is safely 'other', giving us that dollop of smug condescension we need to imbibe with that latte, without the bitter undernote of 'there but for fortune'.
2
The systematic starvation of public defenders' systems all over this country - not just in Louisiana, but other states (especially mine) as well - is on accident. It's a fine way to keep the most minor offenders in jail or indebted for the 'crime' of being too poor and jobless to pay rather large fines for ridiculously small violations (Over $500 a shot for some speeding tickets? Really?). Of course, once in that mess the penalties keep adding up and those involved can't get work to even start to make the payments, so the vicious cycle goes on and on. And then there's my dear home state, the one that deliberately tossed out 'mens rea' (Knowledge and criminal intent, literally 'evil mind') in ALL drug cases, so mere possession - even if you've no idea how the drugs got there ((Planting, anyone?) gets you a felony and you'll NEVER vote.
Of course, the system is rigged. Just ask those in mainly black suburbs of St. Louis how they like going the fines-to-jail merry-go-round route for such absurdness as grass that's an inch or two too long. (Those 'quality of life' laws can be, and often are, abused, and of course it's all about money and power.) Legal serfdom, here we come.
Of course, the system is rigged. Just ask those in mainly black suburbs of St. Louis how they like going the fines-to-jail merry-go-round route for such absurdness as grass that's an inch or two too long. (Those 'quality of life' laws can be, and often are, abused, and of course it's all about money and power.) Legal serfdom, here we come.
5
Next step: Debtors' prisons.
2
Bravo to John Oliver for yet again, exposing injustices in our society which in turn, major news outlets are finally inspired to highlight these injustices in a major way. John Oliver has accomplished more in his few years on the air than Congress has in a long time.
26
As a lawyer, and a Republican, please add my voice in assent to Mr. Bunton's column. Although the situation is not as dire in Pennsylvania as in Louisiana, the failure to provide minimal levels of adequate representation just leads to a system which not only doesn't work, but breeds contempt and despair. No matter what the facts are, in such a system, everything gets pled out in plea deals that are cookie cutter. It's how you get to a situation like Ferguson.
92
Please pardon the accused, and this accused pun, but how is it that there are plenty of lawyers up in arms whenever a case regarding Second Amendment rights is unholstered in nearly any American jurisdiction, but there is nary a hand raised from the bar to provide legal counsel for U.S. citizens accused of criminal acts, as necessitated by the Fifth and Sixth Amendments of the very same Constitution that shoulders the unwieldy, ill-worded weight of the Second?
It seems that money not only talks, but has an unlimited store of ammunition to protect it, but poverty only clicks round and round on an endless, empty revolving cylinder.
There is plenty of shame here to go across the entire country and back again.
It seems that money not only talks, but has an unlimited store of ammunition to protect it, but poverty only clicks round and round on an endless, empty revolving cylinder.
There is plenty of shame here to go across the entire country and back again.
9
Yet another funding issue with no hope of resolution until all people who care about fairness come out to vote, especially in off-year elections.
31
All Americans must abide by all of laws (minor or not) of this country and their state or face the consequences. Exemptions cannot be made for color, religion or anything else. Crime is rampant in New Orleans and that's another story. If the fees are too high the people must obtain a second job, etc. to be held accountable.
4
Apparently you missed the point that some of the people who are arrested in New Orleans are innocent and need competent legal representation to prove it.
62
Correct. Most miss that most important point. Some defendants are innocent.
4
If you're poor in NOLA and get arrested the mantra is "guilty till proven innocent"
3
As an article in the Times last fall reported, all the judges of the Orleans Parish Criminal Court are being sued in a class action regarding court fees they charge the poor being used to pay for expensive medical insurance policies for themselves.
Camille Buras, chief judge of the infamous court was required by the Supreme Court committee that disciplines judges in Louisiana to issue a public apology in the Times Picayune for the practice and made to repay monies used for her 19!!! medical insurance policies back into court coffers.
Maybe the fees judges of the Orleans Parish Criminal District Court have unethically used to pay for their multiple medical insurance policies can be diverted to the public defenders budget.
Camille Buras, chief judge of the infamous court was required by the Supreme Court committee that disciplines judges in Louisiana to issue a public apology in the Times Picayune for the practice and made to repay monies used for her 19!!! medical insurance policies back into court coffers.
Maybe the fees judges of the Orleans Parish Criminal District Court have unethically used to pay for their multiple medical insurance policies can be diverted to the public defenders budget.
34
Isn't it ironic that the parents of Louisiana governor Bobby Jindal came to the U.S. from India, a third-world country, presumably to give themselves and their future children a better life. And now their son is the governor of a state with a third-world justice system.
57
Thankfully, Jindal is gone and his favored successor (David Vitter) lost unexpectedly to an unknown democrat in November.
4
The son WAS the failed governor of Louisiana
3
As a career prosecutor, I'd urge everyone to pay close attention to the matter discussed here. The shortage of public defenders is not simply a Louisiana problem. It exists pretty much everywhere. The pervasive criticism of law enforcement has been directed at abuses best solved by public defenders, who are engaged for that very purpose. Abusive prosecutors, police, grand juries and probation officers are best kept in check by tenacious defense attorneys with the time to research their cases. The criminal justice system was never intended to be one-sided. but that's what you get when public defenders are underfunded. It's an adversary system after all. Expecting law enforcement to do it right on its own and get it right every time will lead to endless disappointment. The best way to assure fair law enforcement is to pay defense lawyers to do the job, and not, by the way, to pay professors who lecture on the subject without getting their hands dirty.
62
I've been practicing criminal law for 26 years in NYC. I have seen the strain on public defenders as their caseloads have tripled in the past ten years. More cases and less time to investigate leads to nothing but problems. Forced to juggle cases means a system of triage must take place. There really is no choice as defenders around the USA must pick and choose which cases to fight hard or go to trial. Why? Lack of funding. If a defendant is to have a fair shot, we must address the inequities in funding. A prosecutors office get most of the money, while defenders have to beg for whatever they get. Would you want a lawyer who is over worked, underpaid, and understaffed?
30
In as much as the right to counsel is a federal constitutional right (sixth amendment), the federal government ought to play a more active role in funding state public defender services. One approach might be to provide federal matching funds for states that are willing to commit to having sufficient public defense staffing so as to keep caseloads at reasonable levels. While there is no guarantee that states would opt to participate in such a program (see, e.g., the many states that have opted out of medicaid funding under the ACA), such an approach might help in those areas where state officials are interested in improving the quality of justice.
13
People in general have a bias towards conviction when someone is charged. Private defense attorneys make a lot of money fighting the uphill battle of you probably did something wrong if you are sitting in that chair. Public defenders are asked to take a median starting salary of $47,500 for much more than 40/hr per week work and six figure law school debt hanging over their heads, while their peers make much more in the private sector. Is any wonder why there aren't enough lawyers for the cases? We have to make the position itself more desirable to attract more lawyers. A public salary will never be very high, but the lawyers I know work closer to 60/hr per week or under public defender salary, about $16/hr. At that point, moral high ground is all you have and that isn't enough to attract good lawyers when we are nationally fighting for a $15 minimum wage at McDonalds.
26
Actually, with the legal profession going through a period of change and upheaval, the private law firm jobs new lawyers used to expect simply aren't there or already filled by high fliers from the top of the class at the top law schools.
Compared with having a precarious existence as a contract attorney, the legal's profession's contribution to America's dismal "gig economy" or simply rebranding one's self, abandoning the law and having to convince employers you're not a failure because you couldn't break into the legal profession, a job at a public defender's office might look pretty good.
Compared with having a precarious existence as a contract attorney, the legal's profession's contribution to America's dismal "gig economy" or simply rebranding one's self, abandoning the law and having to convince employers you're not a failure because you couldn't break into the legal profession, a job at a public defender's office might look pretty good.
Perhaps New Orleans is not under-defending so much as over-arresting.
29
The best word today to describe our justice system is that it is a dichotomy. It is so because every discussion of our system invariably conflates violent crime with nuisance crime. The tragedy is when instances of nuisance crime are manipulated by people in the system to fund themselves or to enable members of the system to act upon their basest instincts under the cover of the law.
Communities who rely upon fees and fines to fund the application of justice in their realm are morally bankrupt. All the more so when the local culture of governance and law enforcement wink at the corruption of the concept of law and shrug at those within their ranks who use the law to abuse citizens.
Individual judgement is both important and necessary for people to govern themselves. Justice is not just the written word. Justice is the appropriate treatment of people by the system when crimes occur.
Arrests for traffic violations, arrests for turnstile jumping, arrests for pandering, etc are a good example of when judgment of those who run the system must be held accountable. Data shows that "broken window" policing is effective. Data also shows that "broken window" policing leads to abuses by bullying cops.
Mr Bunton's comments indicates that "broken window" policing, especially when applied to something as mundane as traffic violations, is an abuse of the community by its system of governance. When that occurs often enough, revolution follows.
Communities who rely upon fees and fines to fund the application of justice in their realm are morally bankrupt. All the more so when the local culture of governance and law enforcement wink at the corruption of the concept of law and shrug at those within their ranks who use the law to abuse citizens.
Individual judgement is both important and necessary for people to govern themselves. Justice is not just the written word. Justice is the appropriate treatment of people by the system when crimes occur.
Arrests for traffic violations, arrests for turnstile jumping, arrests for pandering, etc are a good example of when judgment of those who run the system must be held accountable. Data shows that "broken window" policing is effective. Data also shows that "broken window" policing leads to abuses by bullying cops.
Mr Bunton's comments indicates that "broken window" policing, especially when applied to something as mundane as traffic violations, is an abuse of the community by its system of governance. When that occurs often enough, revolution follows.
11
It seems to me this is a national problem, and there needs to be some guarantee, regardless of which state you live in, to a public defender who is not so overworked he or she can't adequately represent you.
27
What's really frightening is the defendants who don't even get the chance to ask for a public defender after being indicted by a grand jury. The "majority rules" nature of a grand jury means that too many people are often indicted with no real evidence, just the say-so of a harried assistant prosecutor rattling off only the names and accusations to a grand jury expected to say yea or nay to dozens of cases a day.
So grand jurors with a chip on their shoulder or just eager to please the prosecutor will vote guilty based on zip evidence, and innocent people get sucked into the mess. With no way out, these innocent people agree to plead guilty after the prosecutors than convince them it will be far, far worse if they go to trial with a public defender.
So they think, I'm innocent, but I could go to jail for 20 years if the trial jury agrees with the grand jury, so I'll take 5 years and hope for probation. What else can I do? That's the real horror of our legal system with its grand juries. That's the terrible nightmare of those innocents who do decide to ignore the prosecutor's threats and ask for a public defender, only to be told no or learn that the "tack on" fees are too costly to plead innocent.
So grand jurors with a chip on their shoulder or just eager to please the prosecutor will vote guilty based on zip evidence, and innocent people get sucked into the mess. With no way out, these innocent people agree to plead guilty after the prosecutors than convince them it will be far, far worse if they go to trial with a public defender.
So they think, I'm innocent, but I could go to jail for 20 years if the trial jury agrees with the grand jury, so I'll take 5 years and hope for probation. What else can I do? That's the real horror of our legal system with its grand juries. That's the terrible nightmare of those innocents who do decide to ignore the prosecutor's threats and ask for a public defender, only to be told no or learn that the "tack on" fees are too costly to plead innocent.
49
This is an extremely important issue and deserves even more coverage from the Times. Charging for public defenders, and also underfunding them to the point that they cannot provide a reasonable defense is a gross violation of the 6th amendment, because it provides one sidedness in our legal system, designed to be adversarial. Those who claim to be so interested recently in "defending" the Constitution ( largely the tea-party wing of the Republican Party) should be as passionate about this issue as they are about the obligation to rapidly nominate and confirm a new Supreme Court justice.
23
I guess it's easier to jail people without offering them the right to a defense. This way they can stay in prison, provide work for the prison industry and, if they're really lucky, get out before they're assaulted, maimed, or killed in prison for the crime of being unable to hire a lawyer. And we, the public, can pay for this because it's keeping criminals (proven or not) off the streets and provides jobs. Innocence in America is not the point of our justice system any longer. How much money one has to pay the lawyer is.
58
It's is difficult to jail people who don't commit crimes. Then they don't need a lawyer of public defender and the lack of funds to pay for one would be moot.
As for that "proven or not" perhaps you'd like to sit in court for a few days and see how many of thee people have numerous arrests and guilty pleas?
As for that "proven or not" perhaps you'd like to sit in court for a few days and see how many of thee people have numerous arrests and guilty pleas?
1
The public defender programs nationwide are far worse than this explains. I've done this sort of work, so let me explain.
It is vital to meet with the client long before trial. Public defenders don't. Michigan provides a notice to those choosing public defenders that they won't, and not to expect it.
It is vital to prepare a case long before walking into the courthouse. Public defenders often see the file for the first time minutes before the trial. Their first meeting with the client at the courthouse door is "Hi, my name is" and then help to quickly review the file.
It is vital to find and meet with witnesses long before trial. Public defenders can't. They ask in that meeting right before trial, "Do you have any witnesses?" They don't even have time to ask what they would say.
It is a truism to ask only questions to which you know what the answer will be. Public defenders don't. They have no idea, and make it up while asking.
Now the very best public defender programs for the most serious cases do better than this. They are at the level a private attorney would be on a far less serious case. And they have no money or resources to do more. Not to hire experts, not to hire consultants, not to consider options, not to find witnesses.
They are generally fine attorneys. They know all this. They are doing the best they can, working late and weekends, ruining their own lives outside work, desperately trying to do right in impossible situations.
It is vital to meet with the client long before trial. Public defenders don't. Michigan provides a notice to those choosing public defenders that they won't, and not to expect it.
It is vital to prepare a case long before walking into the courthouse. Public defenders often see the file for the first time minutes before the trial. Their first meeting with the client at the courthouse door is "Hi, my name is" and then help to quickly review the file.
It is vital to find and meet with witnesses long before trial. Public defenders can't. They ask in that meeting right before trial, "Do you have any witnesses?" They don't even have time to ask what they would say.
It is a truism to ask only questions to which you know what the answer will be. Public defenders don't. They have no idea, and make it up while asking.
Now the very best public defender programs for the most serious cases do better than this. They are at the level a private attorney would be on a far less serious case. And they have no money or resources to do more. Not to hire experts, not to hire consultants, not to consider options, not to find witnesses.
They are generally fine attorneys. They know all this. They are doing the best they can, working late and weekends, ruining their own lives outside work, desperately trying to do right in impossible situations.
124
So we have the right to an attorney, but not nearly all that an attorney would normally do. Of course every defendant convicted under these circumstances has grounds for appeal on the basis of inadequate representation, all they need is a good lawyer to win the appeal then go back and retry the case. Joseph Heller couldn't have made this up.
2
Exactly.
But those appeals have been failing, even in death penalty cases. The appellate courts say the defense was good enough, because there is no proof a real defense could have done better. Of course there is no such proof, because no real defense was ever done, so we can't know.
Even Joseph Heller wouldn't make that up.
But those appeals have been failing, even in death penalty cases. The appellate courts say the defense was good enough, because there is no proof a real defense could have done better. Of course there is no such proof, because no real defense was ever done, so we can't know.
Even Joseph Heller wouldn't make that up.
6
Did you know that the prosecutors opposing these public defenders are often in the exact same situation? They have to grapple with the same caseload as the public defenders office AND all of the private counsel as well. Oftentimes they don't meet with crime victims until the day of the trial, its a crap shoot as to whether they've even met with the investigators, and their ability to do their jobs is largely dependent on police cooperation. They work the same late nights and weekends as the PDs, but usually for less pay.
Why nobody decries this situation and laments the lot of the crime victims in this situation, I can never understand.
Why nobody decries this situation and laments the lot of the crime victims in this situation, I can never understand.
Looks like to me that it is down to the court accepting no more charges or the criminals turning to a life free of crime and full of hope, growth and opportunity.
I think crime has been around as long as love so the citizens will probably end up have to defend themselves.
I think crime has been around as long as love so the citizens will probably end up have to defend themselves.
1
Criminals? What about the many people who are suspected but are in fact innocent? Did you miss the statement that Louisiana has the country's highest rate of exoneration for wrongful convictions? That means convictions are overturned after the accused have spent time in prison, lost jobs and income and been publicly disgraced, deprived of "hope, growth and opportunity." It also means that the guilty people are free. Or do you just think that all poor people are probably guilty of something?
6
Harry Connick, Sr. is still around. He could straighten this out.
This is the sad but inescapable consequence of not wanting to fund good governing through realistic taxation. Schools have also taken a hit from states from grade schools to college level. Just as we cannot get blood from a stone, it is clear that trying to fund the courts and other government processes through fining poor defendants, as in Ferguson, Mo, shows the mental poverty of state and local officials as well as the economic poverty of defendants. Well, one can hope that citizens may soon awaken to the lack of Justice this inevitably produces, but given how widespread and long lived this practice is, it is unlikely to result in more than embarrassment.
103
Yes, I agree completely, many of our problems stem from inadequate taxation.
3
Could it be that the tax money that is paid goes to the wrong uses? Like military equipment for cops, and the trillions wasted by the pentagon?
5
Meh - the reality is that inadequate public defenders isn't really the highest priority for the nation. Poverty comes with a significant down side, and I would bet that a fair number of the accused innocent of the crime in question probably committed other crimes they were never picked up for. I can't say I am bothered by it enough to raise my tax bill.
1
this might be a great situation for the newly shaped supreme court with a new Obama appointee to tackle, gideon vs wainright comes to mind.
43
This is about Democrat corruption, folks. Not about 'inadequate funding' See also: Baltimore, Oakland, Newark, Camden.