Panel says some poor defendants don't receive adequate legal representatio

[Judi Lynn]

Panel says some poor defendants don't receive adequate legal representation

By Kata Kertesz
ASSOCIATED PRESS
10:27 a.m. June 22, 2004

WASHINGTON – More than 40 years after a Supreme Court ruling that guaranteed lawyers for defendants who can't afford them, some people are still without adequate legal representation in criminal cases, according to a new committee formed to address the problem.

The National Committee on the Right to Counsel, chaired by former Vice President Walter Mondale, will analyze the procedures states and localities use to provide attorneys to defendants who can't afford them and will recommend ways to make sure all defendants receive adequate legal assistance.

Rhoda Billings, committee co-chair and former chief justice of the North Carolina Supreme Court, said the current system does not ensure that the right is equally guaranteed for all Americans.

"In some instances across the country, courts have upheld convictions even when the defendants were represented by lawyers who slept through portions of the trial or were drunk or under the influence of drugs," Billings said in a statement Tuesday announcing the committee's formation.
(snip/...)

http://www.signonsandiego.com/news/nation/20040622-1027-counselforpoor.html

[Jacobin]

1. How can I get paid to do a study like this?

"Panel says sun is very hot"

"Panel says oceans are quite wet"

"Panel says earth is round"

[Carolina]

2. what else isn't new or news ...

the sad fact that really requires no studies is that in modern America the poor get shafted in ways too numerous to count.

We know Bush as governor signed off on executions of those who had minimal and compromised legal counsel. Repukes would like to do away with what currently passes for legal aid because they like prisons, torture and executions. Hell, they like gutting the right to counsel, the right to sue, the right to know what you're being charged with ... for all but themselves

Meanwhile, Kenny 'Fuck California' Lay walks around a free, and still wealthy, man.

[gatlingforme]

7. That is the truth, why is there such disparity b/t blacks and whites

in the criminal justice system, It's sick.

[catmandu57]

3. Really, this is a big no brainer

If everyone got equal representation then there would be a slimey pigboy in the big house now, I'm sure there are at least several poor people who have been railroaded on similar charges.

[htuttle]

4. "Some"? Try "Almost all"

In my experience with public defenders, most are overworked and underskilled. It's a miracle if they manage to actually meet with the client before the trial in most cases.

[sangh0]

5. I work for a public defender

and IMO the only thing worse than the pitifully low response this thread has gotten is the responses in this thread. Even those who are aware of this seem to care little about. The Repukes have SWORN to destroy the Legal Services Corp, the govt entity through which public defenders recieve Fed support (they went so far as to put it in the RNC's platform in 1980) but even the politically-aware Dems have nothing to say besides "Quelle surprise"

And wrt to the comment about how public defenders are underqualified - My employer recieves dozens of applications for each opening. We get to pick the cream of the top., which always includes lawyers who have graduated from Ivy League schools with honors. Our lawyers have won dozens of class-action cases against the govt, and helped desegregate New York City.

IMO those are greater achievements than what the typical "qualified" attys accomplish (ie earning lots of money helping corps steal lots of money) and they do it for pay that is thousands of dollars less than what they could earn in the for-profit world.

[2Design]

9. thanks for information.....any links to more information on this

[Judi Lynn]

11. Thanks for the info. Alarmed in hearing it was in their platform in 1980.

I can hope you realize this has been severely downplayed. This is damned serious.

I'm REALLY stunned by your post. Didn't know a thing about their goal in removing even the overworked, overstretched legal defenders they have now.

Thought I'd seen how low they could go already. This IS even far, far lower.

You've given us something more to bear in mind indefinitely. Their plans just have to be countered.

Thanks.

[saigon68]

12. There a lot of lawyers who think Gideon should be funded

Unfortunately there are a lot of Repuke slimy conservatives that want the poor and especially minorities to receive no justice.

The cops spend a lot of their time kicking the crap out of the black man

[Senior citizen]

6. Try NONE!

Anybody who thinks there is "equal justice under law" for both rich and poor, is deluded.

I agree that public defenders can be the greatest, and are underpaid, overworked, and in danger of compete defunding.

But compared to the legal teams and expertise the wealthy can hire, no poor person has "equal" justice. We have the best goverment money can buy, and the best justice system money can buy. What we don't have is equal justice under law.

[gatlingforme]

8. I agree 100%!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[Sabriel]

10. Um, they don't get adequate POLITICAL representation, either

Just look at the 2000 selection, not to mention what's coming soon to a voting booth near you.