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roachboy · 11-09-2010, 09:42 AM

actually, kir-stang, i have.
the system is overburdened, underfunded, understaffed and problematic.
there are lots of good people in it, there's no doubt, and it's by eating them alive that the system doesn't simply collapse.

but think about those fine places that are a little death penalty happy like texas and the number of convictions/sentencings that have resulted from incompetent legal representation on the part of public defenders.
which has to result from a collective attitude about public defender functions particular to places like texas.

that attitude of contempt (which is how it looks) makes the death penalty into something that's way too often a special form of punishment visited upon the poor.

for what it's worth--like i said--the folk who put themselves in the line of fire as public defenders as individuals are often good and the folk i've seen and know who have done it are often admirable smart people who do it for political reasons, one of which is opposition to the way in which the legal system reproduces the class system in disproportionately sentencing the poor. like i said, their efforts keep the system from collapsing.

hope that helps clarify.

11-09-2010, 09:42 AM	#36 (permalink)
roachboy Super Moderator Location: essex ma	actually, kir-stang, i have. the system is overburdened, underfunded, understaffed and problematic. there are lots of good people in it, there's no doubt, and it's by eating them alive that the system doesn't simply collapse. but think about those fine places that are a little death penalty happy like texas and the number of convictions/sentencings that have resulted from incompetent legal representation on the part of public defenders. which has to result from a collective attitude about public defender functions particular to places like texas. that attitude of contempt (which is how it looks) makes the death penalty into something that's way too often a special form of punishment visited upon the poor. for what it's worth--like i said--the folk who put themselves in the line of fire as public defenders as individuals are often good and the folk i've seen and know who have done it are often admirable smart people who do it for political reasons, one of which is opposition to the way in which the legal system reproduces the class system in disproportionately sentencing the poor. like i said, their efforts keep the system from collapsing. hope that helps clarify. __________________ a gramophone its corrugated trumpet silver handle spinning dog. such faithfulness it hear it make you sick. -kamau brathwaite Last edited by roachboy; 11-09-2010 at 09:45 AM..