Comments for a public defender

Comment on Idiocracy by A Voice of Sanity

A Voice of Sanity — Wed, 25 Apr 2012 01:43:58 +0000

I too believe in retaining the DP – but solely to punish corrupt politicians, policemen and prosecutors.

Any chance THAT will ever be enacted into law?

Comment on Taxing the system by Thomas R. Griffith

Thomas R. Griffith — Fri, 20 Apr 2012 19:45:36 +0000

Hey Public Defender, strictly from a (VOTS) victim of the system’s point of view, whom has personally experienced the effects of plea bargain abuses (“Play Bargain”) games, please consider this. FWIW, you make a valid argument and therefore have rendered the call to try ‘em all complete bullshit. With that, I reserve the right to call bullshit on the following.
Due to the law allowing those with law degrees to dabble in the criminal defense niche (despite having absolutely no misdemeanor and/or felony trial experience), (ex: Divorce Estate / Will specialist) , allowing them to be referred to as CDLs, hold themselves out in consultation with defendant’s elderly and poor parents as a CDL, quote and receive down payments, meet with client in jail for 15 minutes, stumble through voir dire, file numerous “Ready for Trial” notices, file 5 pre-trial (Discovery) motions 30 days prior to trial, do nothing when the Court Orders are ignored (neither Agreed or Denied), continue to file “Ready for Trial” notices, be oblivious to the fact that client was on probation at time of arrest despite it being a question asked in 15 minute meeting, allow a .38 Rhom revolver w/ 5 or 6 inch barrel to be listed as one of the three number twos on two State’s Exhibit docs. with one being dated seven years after trail & presented to the jury in a case involving an alleged “.22 or .25 revolver w/ 2 inch barrel”, say nothing when robbery victim points client out as the gunman, ignores original suspect’s description as being straight black hair with no facial hair as he sits next to a client with wavy light brown hair and spends the entire lunch recess trying to convince client to plea bargain for 10 years. Closing the deal by saying, “Why didn’t you tell me you were on probation? Your probation was revoked the moment you were arrested. Guilty or Not, you are going to prison just for being on probation at time of arrest. Take the 10 years instead of risking 99 years.”
Everyone knew I was innocent from the very first day, including the judge & jury of 12. There wasn’t any investigation at any point by anyone or it would have shown that I’ve never ever had an Outstanding Traffic Warrant in my life as for the reason given for arrest. Therefore, I’d like to throw out the krapola call for all to go to trial and crash the system. Instead, I’m calling for real CDLs, real Public Defenders, real Investigators, real ADAs, real Judges to do their friggin duties or resign. But that would require those that consider themselves as “Real” to grow a pair and denounce the ability for posers to side step your profession in order to Play Bargain at lunch recess. Investigate, Investigate, Investigate or go home. *You will never hear about brain surgeons sitting idly by as orderlies are reported to have dabbled in a potential client’s hypo thalamus. *You never hear about Robbery Detectives allowing Parking Enforcement to take a case or two. Yall can blogaaboutit or do something about, the goof ball’s in your court. Thanks.

Comment on Idiocracy by Martin Budden

Martin Budden — Thu, 19 Apr 2012 18:04:04 +0000

I recently read this article

http://nplusonemag.com/raise-the-crime-rate

One of the points it makes is that the campaign against the death penalty has distracted attention from something arguably worse: the huge increase in incarceration rates since the seventies. I abhor the death penalty, but this article provided food for thought.

Compared with the horrors of garden variety American incarceration, though, the death penalty can be viewed only as a distraction. An extremely small number of people are executed in the United States—fewer than thirty a year, on average, in the last three decades. But at any given moment, a full 7 million people are under some form of regular surveillance from the correctional system. More African Americans are in prison today than were enslaved in the 1850s
…
after execution was reinstated in 1976, many activists who might have spent their lives focusing on prisons switched their attention to a narratively vivid but politically minor bugaboo

The article is well worth reading and I am still thinking about what it says.

Comment on The measure of our society by Gideon

Gideon — Wed, 18 Apr 2012 13:18:45 +0000

‘An eye for an eye…’ was uttered by M. K. Gandhi. I cannot take credit for it.

Comment on In which I make some uninvited retorts to specious arguments against abolition by Gideon

Gideon — Wed, 18 Apr 2012 13:16:42 +0000

You mean Gamso? If only I had the chops.

Comment on Idiocracy by Gideon

Gideon — Wed, 18 Apr 2012 13:15:35 +0000

Ok it was terribly entertaining. I’m trying to maintain a high-brow appearance here.

Comment on The measure of our society by Sandy ACL

Sandy ACL — Wed, 18 Apr 2012 01:46:07 +0000

What a great illustration to summarize the point – an eye for an eye makes everyone blind indeed. Especially that the criminal law system is not a perfect system, abolishing death penalty makes just perfect sense. Not all states compensate offenders that have been wrongfully imprisoned. What more if it’s life taken away due to a legal flaw? Even so, death penalty as a measure of society for capital crimes will only continue to show that we have a lot of maturing to do in our understanding of “real” justice.

Happy for the developments in CT!

Comment on In which I make some uninvited retorts to specious arguments against abolition by Eric L. Mayer

Eric L. Mayer — Tue, 17 Apr 2012 22:34:36 +0000

Like Sherman’s March, you left a complete path of argumentative destruction, and then you went to work on them.

You sure you aren’t a prior ACLU muckity muck in Ohio with a dandy mustache?

Comment on Idiocracy by Eric L. Mayer

Eric L. Mayer — Tue, 17 Apr 2012 21:40:51 +0000

“Moderately entertaining?”

You clearly did not grow-up as close to trailer parks as I did.

Comment on Idiocracy by John D. McLauchlan

John D. McLauchlan — Tue, 17 Apr 2012 21:05:00 +0000

This was the one I had in mind.