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Oh heyyyy it's #SuperBowlSunday
Ok cool now can we talk about how the U.S. locks up huge numbers of people for being too poor to afford a lawyer who can spend more than 5 minutes on their defense
nytimes.com/interactive/20…
Ok cool now can we talk about how the U.S. locks up huge numbers of people for being too poor to afford a lawyer who can spend more than 5 minutes on their defense
nytimes.com/interactive/20…
Seriously though: few aspects of America's broken criminal justice system get less attention than the public defender crisis.
Years of underfunding have blown a huge hole in the constitutional right to counsel, literally setting up a 2-tiered system of justice based on income.
Years of underfunding have blown a huge hole in the constitutional right to counsel, literally setting up a 2-tiered system of justice based on income.
Worth noting: In addition to adequate funding to ensure PDs have caseloads that allow them to meaningfully represent their clients... decriminalizing poverty would also go a long way towards reducing caseloads bloated by "offenses" that shouldn't be crimes in the first place.
