Detroit’s Indigent Defense System Fails Poor Defendants
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Detroit’s Indigent Defense System Fails Poor Defendants
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Re: Detroit’s Indigent Defense System Fails Poor Defendants
#2Wow, that text is really huge. I had to hit zoom out by two levels to make it actually readable.
Re: Detroit’s Indigent Defense System Fails Poor Defendants
#3> In the past five years, she has taken 3,802 cases, including 1,787 new felonies, according to data from Michigan’s Third Judicial Circuit Court. That’s more than one felony case every workday—excluding the ones involving simple probation violations, which Cameron also takes hundreds of each year.
3802/(5*365.25) ≈ 2.08 cases per day, every day in those five years including weekends, not just "more than one per workday". There is no way these cases are being handled adequately.
I get that the more than one a day refers just to felonies, but it's still ridiculous.
Re: Detroit’s Indigent Defense System Fails Poor Defendants
#4“Probably 95 percent of the people that are charged with something are guilty of something,” she asserted. “They may not be guilty of what they’re exactly charged with, but they may be guilty of a lesser offense, okay? … And you have probably 90 percent of those people who are looking for the best deal possible.”
What a disturbing quote and very telling about the state of our justice system.
Re: Detroit’s Indigent Defense System Fails Poor Defendants
#5Wow, that text is really huge. I had to hit zoom out by two levels to make it actually readable.
It's refreshing to actually see a font on a site that doesn't give me a headache to read!
Re: Detroit’s Indigent Defense System Fails Poor Defendants
#6“Probably 95 percent of the people that are charged with something are guilty of something,” she asserted. “They may not be guilty of what they’re exactly charged with, but they may be guilty of a lesser offense, okay? … And you have probably 90 percent of those people who are looking for the best deal possible.” What a disturbing quote and very telling about the state of our justice system.
Also notable:
"Since 2014, for example, she has only visited one client in jail, according to court receipts."
So any strategy discussion is minutes before copping a plea, etc. I'd call it a plea mill. Ugh.
Re: Detroit’s Indigent Defense System Fails Poor Defendants
#7“Probably 95 percent of the people that are charged with something are guilty of something,” she asserted. “They may not be guilty of what they’re exactly charged with, but they may be guilty of a lesser offense, okay? … And you have probably 90 percent of those people who are looking for the best deal possible.” What a disturbing quote and very telling about the state of our justice system.
Even more chilling considering that thanks to the state of the law today we are all guilty of some "lesser offense" right now.
It would be interesting to calculate the "default jail sentence" of the average citizen if an overzealous prosecutor decided to randomly harass them.
Re: Detroit’s Indigent Defense System Fails Poor Defendants
#8Wow, that text is really huge. I had to hit zoom out by two levels to make it actually readable.
Really? It looks quite comfortable to me. For reference, I see an x-height of about 9 points on WaPo, 10 on NYT, and 11 here.
Re: Detroit’s Indigent Defense System Fails Poor Defendants
#9“Probably 95 percent of the people that are charged with something are guilty of something,” she asserted. “They may not be guilty of what they’re exactly charged with, but they may be guilty of a lesser offense, okay? … And you have probably 90 percent of those people who are looking for the best deal possible.” What a disturbing quote and very telling about the state of our justice system.
There's a podcast, by the name: 'Serial', in season two they go into regular courtrooms with non-fancy cases - fights, etc.
In one episode after the defendant has been found not guilty, the judge presiding over the case berated them for not accepting a plea deal, and wasting the court time. This is after the person has been found not guilty.
Re: Detroit’s Indigent Defense System Fails Poor Defendants
#10“Probably 95 percent of the people that are charged with something are guilty of something,” she asserted. “They may not be guilty of what they’re exactly charged with, but they may be guilty of a lesser offense, okay? … And you have probably 90 percent of those people who are looking for the best deal possible.” What a disturbing quote and very telling about the state of our justice system.
When you work with the assumption that police usually only arrest a person when they have strong evidence that person actually committed the crime, it's not that surprising.
Whether that is a good working assumption to begin with is another debate.