[Vision2020] Public Defenders Office

[Joan Opyr]

In response to Bubba, Melynda writes:

>If you were falsely accused, would you want a public defender who advised 
>you that you should make a deal to save trouble, or one who would fight it 
>out for you?   I don't want a public defender to be pals with the police or 
>the prosecutor; a civil and professional relationship, by all means, but 
>it's the clients who suffer when the network gets too cozy.

Exactly.  It's my understanding that "innocent until proven guilty" means 
just that.  I'm not guilty until A) I'm proven guilty in a court of law or 
B) I admit my guilt of my own free will, and my plea is accepted by the 
court.  Since when is it the job of a defense attorney to determine whether 
or not the client is guilty?  Defense attorneys don't judge clients; they 
judge the strength of the prosecution's case.  Otherwise, why bother having 
a trial system?  We could just pass out big rubber stamps, and anyone who 
fails a polygraph or looks shifty or smells bad or fails to charm his public 
defender gets a big "Guilty" mark on his forehead, and we pack him off to 
the hoosegow, post haste.

As for Bubba Jones' blanket assertions about guilt, how many of us have gone 
to court to fight a speeding ticket even when we know damn well that we were 
going twenty miles over the limit?  We fight because we're hoping for a 
better deal -- a lower fine, no increase in our insurance premiums, and a 
dramatic reduction in spousal annoyance.

Joan Opyr/Auntie Establishment

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