{"id":130530,"date":"2016-05-02T10:42:57","date_gmt":"2016-05-02T16:42:57","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/2016\/05\/02\/if-you-cannot-afford-a-lawyer-one-will-be-appointed-for-you-for-a-price.html"},"modified":"2016-05-02T17:04:59","modified_gmt":"2016-05-02T23:04:59","slug":"if-you-cannot-afford-a-lawyer-one-will-be-appointed-for-you-for-a-price","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/2016\/05\/02\/if-you-cannot-afford-a-lawyer-one-will-be-appointed-for-you-for-a-price.html","title":{"rendered":""If you cannot afford a lawyer, one will be appointed for you … for a price""},"content":{"rendered":"

Excellent opinion piece on the "collapse" of indigent defense spending, which has actually gone done<\/i> even as caseloads have skyrocketed. Public defense isn't sexy, but it's better than the alternative.<\/p>\n

'The situation in South Dakota highlights the insanity of this. South Dakota charges a defendant $92 an hour for his public defender, owed no matter the outcome of the case. If a public defender spends 10 hours proving that her client is innocent, the defendant still owes the lawyer $920, even though he committed no crime and his arrest was a mistake. Failure to pay is a crime. Someone who qualifies as indigent may be acquitted, only to be convicted of being too poor to pay for the legal services the Constitution requires the state to provide.'<\/i><\/p>\n

The article notes that increasing spending on this service should be a no-brainer for both parties:<\/p>\n

'For Democrats, this plan would target a major cost of poverty and inequality and, because of the correlation between wealth and race, it would tackle at least some of the racial imbalances that permeate the criminal justice system.<\/i><\/p>\n

For Republicans, who worry about state overreach and the government’s ability to oppress its citizens, meaningful public defense ensures that the poor, too, are able to check the state when it is acting in its most powerful capacity.'<\/i><\/p>\n

The problem with the latter point — as much as it makes sense — is that it is a philosophical one that flies in the face of two other much more loudly trumpeted GOP talking points: (1) government spending, especially on the poor, is just "taking" and is always evil, and (2) accused criminals, especially the poor, are almost certainly guilty, and should be tossed in the (privately operated) clink and the key thrown away.<\/p>\n

In other words, this is a problem that is not going to get better any time soon.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

\n
\n
\n<\/a>
\nA Mockery of Justice for the Poor<\/a><\/span>
\nPublic defenders are starved for resources as they struggle to represent impoverished clients.\n<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

View on Google+<\/a><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Excellent opinion piece on the "collapse" of indigent defense spending, which has actually gone done even as caseloads have skyrocketed. Public defense isn't sexy, but it's better than the alternative. 'The situation in South Dakota highlights the insanity of this. South Dakota charges a defendant $92 an hour for his public defender, owed no matter … Continue reading “"If you cannot afford a lawyer, one will be appointed for you … for a price"”<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_seopress_robots_primary_cat":"","_seopress_titles_title":"","_seopress_titles_desc":"","_seopress_robots_index":"","_seopress_analysis_target_kw":"","_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":false,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[106,715,528,376],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-130530","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-plusposts","category-crime-punishment","category-economic-justice","category-taxing-spending"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":128369,"url":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/2015\/10\/20\/people-charged-with-crimes-they-are-criminals.html","url_meta":{"origin":130530,"position":0},"title":""People charged with crimes, they are criminals."","author":"***Dave","date":"Tue 20-Oct-15 9:18am","format":false,"excerpt":"Marcus D. Gordon, Circuit Court Judge of Scott County, the great state of Mississippi, is a hoot. When he's not addressing the interviewer as \"Lady,\" he's basically shrugging off the rights (and innocence and credibility) of anyone who has been arrested. And when pressed on allegations that arrestees are being\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "~PlusPosts"","block_context":{"text":"~PlusPosts","link":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/category\/blogging\/plusposts"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":133903,"url":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/2017\/07\/19\/dear-crooked-cops-beware-of-video-buffering-before-planting-evidence.html","url_meta":{"origin":130530,"position":1},"title":"Dear Crooked Cops: Beware Of Video Buffering Before Planting Evidence","author":"***Dave","date":"Wed 19-Jul-17 3:04pm","format":false,"excerpt":"Apparently these Baltimore cops were unaware that their bodycams are active all the time, so that when they are turned on the recording starts with the 30 seconds previous to activation -- which half a minute included one cop planting drugs in front of his cohorts, which he then, thirty\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "~PlusPosts"","block_context":{"text":"~PlusPosts","link":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/category\/blogging\/plusposts"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":1343,"url":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/2002\/01\/22\/talk_about_a_se.html","url_meta":{"origin":130530,"position":2},"title":"Talk about a security risk","author":"***Dave","date":"Tue 22-Jan-02 2:36pm","format":false,"excerpt":"Joseph Foss, an 86-year old retired Marine general, a former governor of South Dakota, and a former President of the NRA, fell under the baleful eye of America West security...","rel":"","context":"In "Homeland Security"","block_context":{"text":"Homeland Security","link":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/category\/politics-law\/homeland-security"},"img":{"alt_text":"medal4_efficient.jpg","src":"\/blog\/images\/medal4_efficient.jpg","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":21663,"url":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/2011\/07\/19\/unblogged-bits-tue-19-jul-11-1731.html","url_meta":{"origin":130530,"position":3},"title":"Unblogged Bits (Tue. 19-Jul-11 1731)","author":"***Dave","date":"Tue 19-Jul-11 5:31pm","format":false,"excerpt":"Links (most recent first) that caught my eye, but did not warrant full-blown blog entries .... How to get naked, Victorian style - Man, there are days when I thank the Lord I live in the time I do. The Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation Call For The Reinvention Of\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Big Business"","block_context":{"text":"Big Business","link":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/category\/big-business"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":131527,"url":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/2016\/09\/13\/double-jeopardy-double-trouble.html","url_meta":{"origin":130530,"position":4},"title":"Double Jeopardy, Double Trouble","author":"***Dave","date":"Tue 13-Sep-16 11:20pm","format":false,"excerpt":"Double Jeopardy is trying someone twice (or more than once) for the same crime. It is expressly forbidden by the US Constitution because the Founders knew through hard experience how easy it is to exploit. The state (the courts and prosecutors) have unlimited resources compared to the average citizen. If\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "~PlusPosts"","block_context":{"text":"~PlusPosts","link":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/category\/blogging\/plusposts"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":138217,"url":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/2019\/03\/11\/dont-worry-it-was-only-a-temporary-episodic-medical-condition.html","url_meta":{"origin":130530,"position":5},"title":"Don’t worry — it was only a “temporary, episodic medical condition”","author":"***Dave","date":"Mon 11-Mar-19 6:30pm","format":false,"excerpt":"Texas Judge Jack Robison disciplined for telling a jury God wanted them to acquit a defendant - CNN The judge\u00a0apparently \"walked into the jury room after the jury's deliberations, said he had been praying about the case, and informed the jurors God told him the defendant was innocent.\" He went\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Crime & Punishment"","block_context":{"text":"Crime & Punishment","link":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/category\/politics-law\/crime-punishment"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/wp\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/03\/god-wants-defendant-acquitted.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/wp\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/03\/god-wants-defendant-acquitted.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/wp\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/03\/god-wants-defendant-acquitted.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x"},"classes":[]}],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/130530","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=130530"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/130530\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":130539,"href":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/130530\/revisions\/130539"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=130530"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=130530"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=130530"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}