Due process, lawyers for the indigent? Who needs that?

[Brainonska511]

http://www.nytimes.com/2014/09/25/u...-convictions-and-counsel-appear-optional.html

Sitting in her house far out in the Mississippi countryside, she ticked off his stints in the Scott County jail: There was the 18-month stay that ended in 2011; the year that ended in June 2013; and a stretch that began with an arrest last November and is still going.

It is hard to figure out what all this jail time has actually been about. While the arrests that led to these jail stays have been on serious felony charges, Octavious Burks, 37, a poultry plant worker, has not been convicted of or even faced trial on any of the charges. For nearly all of his time in jail, including his current 10-month stay, Mr. Burks has not even had access to a lawyer.

...

If a defendant applies for indigent defense, as Mr. Burks did on the day of his arrest in November, the senior circuit judge, Marcus D. Gordon, generally approves the request. But it is the judge’s policy not to appoint a public defense lawyer until a person is indicted. And there is no state law setting a time limit on detention before an indictment.


So Mr. Burks sits in jail and waits, with no lawyer and no end in sight.
...
In a brief interview, Judge Gordon said it was indeed his policy to appoint indigent defense only at indictment, even though he might approve a defendant’s request for counsel long before that.


“The reason is, that public defender would go out and spend his time and money and cost the county money in investigating the matter,” Judge Gordon said. “And then sometimes, the defendant is not indicted by the grand jury. So I wait until he’s been indicted.”
...
Mark Duncan, the district attorney and a defendant in the suit, said Wednesday that his office had not yet been able to find any case involving Mr. Burks. Mr. Duncan added that his office was still double-checking.
...

Apparently, it costs to much money to protect people's rights. So in this county, it's apparently okay to trample them until the defendant is actually indicted. And then the DA seems to have lost all the paperwork with regards to why this man is sitting in jail awaiting a proper court date? This is utterly outrageous.



NY is also facing similar problems with regards to providing public representation to poor people. It's all nice in theory that people have access to courts for justice, but in practice, it seems like time and time again, we have no problem trampling on the people that can't afford proper representation.

 

[cabri]

Two separate issues.
A PD is not required to be needed until charged. Otherwise what is being defended against? Billing hours to the taxpayer for what.

The speed of indictment is a two edge sword.
A proper investigation is needed to ensure proper charging from the public's POV.
However to delay it becomes a grey area in terms of the individual right to a speedy trial.

There needs to be a limit of time between taken into custody, bail hearing and indictment of a crime.

 

[Atomic Playboy]

Two separate issues.
A PD is not required to be needed until charged. Otherwise what is being defended against? Billing hours to the taxpayer for what.

The speed of indictment is a two edge sword.
A proper investigation is needed to ensure proper charging from the public's POV.
However to delay it becomes a grey area in terms of the individual right to a speedy trial.

There needs to be a limit of time between taken into custody, bail hearing and indictment of a crime.

Providing legal counsel so the accused doesn't say something while in custody that could potentially be used in a legal case against him? That's such an important right we require that it's reiterated to suspects upon arrest. So this just becomes a matter of indefinite detention, which I'm pretty sure is unconstitutional based on the Fifth Amendment right to due process and the Sixth Amendment right to a speedy and public trial. 18 months in jail without access to a lawyer and no charges brought? There's not a judge in America who is going to argue that's Constitutional.