Just for a bit though. There are some things on the horizon. I am going to slowly address them. Hopefully, when they appear front and center, I'll be ready to confront them in an accepted manner. Ultimately, I think and hope this will get some people to listen, if only for a moment. When I figure out what these things are, I'll let you know.
Just finished reading "Ethical Obligations of Lawyers Who Represent Indigent Criminal Defendants When Excessive Caseloads Interfere With Competent and Diligent Representation." This is Formal Opinion 06-411, dated May 13, 2006, of the American Bar Association's Standing Committee On Ethics and Professional Responsibility. I spent more time typing that title than I do on most of my cases.
Um, I'll read it again, just to give it the benefit of the doubt or something. Sheesh could you possibly publish a more general statement? Talk about void for vagueness!! Howz about void for voidness? Can't say that I was moved by an opinion that states the obvious and simply rehashes what everyone knows: public defenders have too many cases and cannot provide adequate legal representation. Issues of poverty, race, mental health and substance abuse, aggressive policing, and overcrowded jails, to name a few, aren't even close to being mentioned in reports of this nature.
Anywho, get out your lotion and your tissue, cuz next I'll be telling you about the American Council of Chief Defenders Statement on Caseloads and Workloads (August 24, 2007).
Oh yeah, can't forget, I learn at the expense of the accused. The poor. The black. The brown. The Asian. And yes, the white. The abused. The incarcerated. The marginalized. The people who, for whatever reason, haven't "made it" in this glorious system.
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