HOW TO SAVE YOUR CLIENT WHILE SAVING THE COURT TIME

Trial courts are afforded great latitude and discretion in determining how voir dire will be conducted. Jury selection plays a critical function in assuring the criminal defendants Sixth Amendment right to an impartial jury will be honored. Without adequate voir […]

How Padilla has Helped Realize Gideon’s Promise

Three years ago, I went to a training sponsored by the Defending Immigrants Partnership (DIP) designed to help public defender organizations sort through the various models available to implement Padilla. The most effective option presented was to have a full-time immigration lawyer […]

SERVING AS A PUBLIC DEFENDER IS NOT JUST A JOB. IT BECOMES PART OF WHO YOU ARE.

Why do you keep doing this job ? Why don't you quit and become a "real lawyer" ? You could make so much more money on the outside. As a Public Defender, it is a question you are asked thousands […]

Path Forward? Courts are stuck in a Trench

       The workshop on the epistemology of scientific conclusions was winding down with a presentation by a latent fingerprint examiner explaining how he arrived at the decision that a crime scene print came from a particular finger.  His talk […]

Hearty souls and strong voices brave Chicago’s cold to envision bright future

“We can stop young men dying.”  “You are heroes and freedom fighters.”  “I need everyone’s help.”  “Intrigued by NAPD’s formation.”  “Believes in NAPD.”  “NAPD seems open to everyone.”  “Amazed by the rapid development.”  “This gives people what is going on throughout the country.” “We have needed a […]

Delaware’s right to counsel deficiencies exposed

In January 2011, then-Chief Justice Myron Steele sought to end Delaware’s undue judicial interference in the state’s conflict indigent defense services by transferring responsibility for the administration of the conflict panel from the court to the Office of the Public […]

Quit harassing the tourists!

“Don’t get me wrong.  I respect law enforcement.  It is important that they ensure public safety on Lake Cumberland.  But they need to respect the right to privacy of our boaters.  We have a lot of tourists on the lake, and they come to […]

WE DEFEND PEOPLE, NOT CASES

Respect, simple respect. I demand nothing more, … I will accept nothing less.- Major Margaret Houlihan, M|STAR|A|STAR|S|STAR|H   Words to live by.  They serve at the foundation of how we judge our interpersonal relationships, both professional and personal.  It should be both […]

ARRRGH! 6 Rants about VOUCHERS

(this post is in response to "You want fries with that?" by Ernie Lewis)  Cost.  I agree it’s hard to see how a state that is paying $250 per case—and that’s Kentucky, a GOOD state—will find good lawyers to defend people for […]

You want fries with that?

A lot of attention has been paid lately to an experiment in one county in Texas that would give vouchers to poor people charged with crimes, vouchers that could be used to hire appointed counsel.  Called the “Comal County Client Choice […]