Quote:
Originally Posted by roachboy
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.
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While the system is overburdened. I strongly disagree with you on many of these points. I've seen public defenders do damn good work, from ferreting out poor eye witness identifications, to impeaching unreliable witnesses, to arguing in appellate courts, the PD system is far from incompetent, and does a damn good job (contrary to shabby-to-disgraceful).
Furthermore, IIRC, the death penalty takes on average approximately 14 years from arrest to execution, and costs about $2.3 million per execution, versus, approximately (IIRC again) $800,000 for life incarceration. You would think all these procedural protections and resources remove it from the ambit of 'class warfare.'