[Vision2020] The niceties of public defense

Thu, 8 Jan 2004 02:04:20 EST

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Auntiestablishment et.al.

Oh, but indeed, the public defenders are there to make life easy for law 
enforcement and to make friends with the prosecutor.  Can you imagine what would 
happen to our law enforcement and legal system if public defenders were like 
Alan Dershowitz?  Cops would be testifying in court so often, and be charged 
with misconduct with such regularity, that the Feds might have to send 87 billion 
to America's cities as an infrastructure rebuilding grant to help secure 
Democracy in the USA.  

And being buddy buddy with the prosecutor, swapping deals on cases so both 
the PD and prosecutor get what they want, helps keep both sides happy.  If 
public defenders were defending all their cases aggressively, the courts could not 
handle the work.  Oh, sure, there are innocent people who get sent up the 
river, while some real scary bad asses go free, but as long as the voters think 
the prosecutor is taking on the dangerous crime, i. e. the stuff the media 
pushes to exploit the hysteria of the public to push the nielsen ratings and sell 
advertising, then the prosecutor is an electable savior.

Till we regulate the cost of lawyers to bring it closer to what the average 
Joe or Jane can afford, we will never have a fair legal system.  Not many 
public defenders will work hard on a defense with the pay they get, and the best 
lawyers, with only a few exceptions, go for the money, which means they are NOT 
doing PD cases.

Ted

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<HTML>
 Auntiestablishment et.al.
 
 Oh, but indeed, the public defenders are there to make life easy for law=
 enforcement and to make friends with the prosecutor. &nbsp;Can you imagine=20=
what would happen to our law enforcement and legal system if public defender=
s were like Alan Dershowitz? &nbsp;Cops would be testifying in court so ofte=
n, and be charged with misconduct with such regularity, that the Feds might=20=
have to send 87 billion to America's cities as an infrastructure rebuilding=20=
grant to help secure Democracy in the USA. &nbsp;
 
 And being buddy buddy with the prosecutor, swapping deals on cases so bo=
th the PD and prosecutor get what they want, helps keep both sides happy. &n=
bsp;If public defenders were defending all their cases aggressively, the cou=
rts could not handle the work. &nbsp;Oh, sure, there are innocent people who=
 get sent up the river, while some real scary bad asses go free, but as long=
 as the voters think the prosecutor is taking on the dangerous crime, i. e.=20=
the stuff the media pushes to exploit the hysteria of the public to push the=
 nielsen ratings and sell advertising, then the prosecutor is an electable s=
avior.
 
 Till we regulate the cost of lawyers to bring it closer to what the aver=
age Joe or Jane can afford, we will never have a fair legal system. &nbsp;No=
t many public defenders will work hard on a defense with the pay they get, a=
nd the best lawyers, with only a few exceptions, go for the money, which mea=
ns they are NOT doing PD cases.
 
 Ted</HTML>

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