tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14345350.post846640353957085198..comments2024-01-12T07:33:46.615-05:00Comments on Criminal Defense: Screw The Public DefendersMy Law Licensehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17487117416844299246noreply@blogger.comBlogger3125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14345350.post-55738699184145710352010-10-31T16:17:04.843-05:002010-10-31T16:17:04.843-05:00This is unacceptable. I am quite critical of the ...This is unacceptable. I am quite critical of the criminal defense bar in many respects and have angered our blog host here on that point before. But one thing I will say is that public defenders ARE a needed part of the system and they should have funding parity with the prosecution. There is something wrong with a legal system where your legal penalties decrease in proportion to how much you can pay a private lawyer, rather than the actual facts of the case. I can't say how many times I have seen people with similar fact patterns get jacked because they have a public defender, or get their case reduced down to peanuts because they afford good private counsel. For the same crime in similar circumstances.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14345350.post-72336953749054484272010-10-29T22:44:58.880-04:002010-10-29T22:44:58.880-04:00Every now and then, a cop or a prosecutor winds up...Every now and then, a cop or a prosecutor winds up on the wrong side of a criminal case. When THEY are the ones accused they, all of a sudden, become defenders of the 6th amendment. You could call it poetic justice, karma, what have you.<br /><br />I do not want to see any misfortune for Mr. Beeson. Hopefully, neither he, nor any of his friends or family, gets charged with a crime. But, if it were to happen, I'll bet he has a much different view of the defense function.Johnhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04494576522906275360noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14345350.post-19248665318850207272010-10-29T11:06:42.596-04:002010-10-29T11:06:42.596-04:00Brian you said:
"Anyone who believes the oth...Brian you said:<br /><br />"Anyone who believes the other side is by default, a 'problem,' has no concept of criminal justice, the adversary process, or law.<br /><br />But they're around."<br /><br />They're not just around, Brian, they abound. <br /><br />Beeson's opinion is by no means an outlier. It is well-centered in the norm and notable only for having been expressed.<br /><br />But even that won't be notable soon. We are in the nascent stages of a shift in our cultural and political values that renders public expression of such a notion not only tolerable, not only politically advantageous to its speaker, but practically de rigueur for anyone seeking public office.<br /><br />I don't think most folks can even imagine how bad this is going to get.<br /><br />(When they deem all payments to criminal defense attorneys to be "money laundering" and put you out of business, there'll be a place for you here on the civil side. Except I suspect you wouldn't want it.)Robert Kuntznoreply@blogger.com