{"id":3627,"date":"2005-02-18T11:36:15","date_gmt":"2005-02-18T15:36:15","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blogs.law.harvard.edu\/formerlyknownas\/2005\/02\/18\/with-ice-floes-jammin-down-th"},"modified":"2011-08-05T14:57:58","modified_gmt":"2011-08-05T18:57:58","slug":"with-ice-floes-jammin-down-the-block","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/archive.blogs.harvard.edu\/ethicalesq\/2005\/02\/18\/with-ice-floes-jammin-down-the-block\/","title":{"rendered":"with ice-floes jammin’ down the block"},"content":{"rendered":"

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                                             last night’s snow down river    \"\"  <\/EM><\/FONT><\/SPAN><\/FONT><\/FONT><\/EM><\/SPAN><\/FONT><\/DIV>
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snow now rain–<\/FONT><\/DIV>
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your picture<\/FONT><\/DIV>
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by mine<\/FONT><\/DIV><\/BLOCKQUOTE><\/BLOCKQUOTE><\/BLOCKQUOTE>
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green light<\/FONT><\/DIV>
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from a green bottle<\/FONT><\/DIV>
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winter morning<\/FONT><\/DIV>
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Gary Hotham<\/STRONG><\/FONT><\/A> from <\/FONT>breathmarks: haiku to read in the dark<\/FONT><\/EM><\/A> <\/FONT><\/FONT><\/DIV>
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(<\/FONT>Canon Press<\/FONT><\/A>, 1999)<\/FONT><\/DIV><\/FONT><\/DIV>
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by <\/FONT><\/FONT>dagosan<\/FONT><\/STRONG><\/A><\/FONT>:<\/FONT><\/EM><\/FONT><\/SPAN><\/FONT>  <\/FONT><\/DIV>
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pink clouds<\/FONT><\/DIV>
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in the crotch of the bare oak  <\/FONT><\/DIV>
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the street-walker stares<\/FONT><\/DIV>
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                                                 [Feb. 18, 2005]<\/FONT><\/EM><\/FONT><\/DIV><\/FONT><\/DIV><\/DIV><\/BLOCKQUOTE><\/FONT><\/SPAN><\/FONT><\/FONT><\/SPAN><\/FONT><\/DIV>
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<\/FONT> <\/DIV>
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potluck<\/FONT><\/STRONG><\/FONT><\/FONT><\/EM><\/SPAN><\/DIV><\/DIV>
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<\/FONT> <\/DIV>
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“tinyredcheck”  If you’re interested in the fairness of our<\/EM> criminal justice system, you need to read the recently <\/FONT><\/DIV>
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posted “<\/FONT>Gideon’s Broken Promise<\/FONT><\/A>: America’s Contnuing Quest for Equal Justice” (ABA Standing Committee <\/FONT><\/FONT><\/FONT><\/DIV>
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on Legal Aid and Indigent Defendants, 2004) (pointer from <\/FONT><\/FONT>Legaline<\/FONT><\/A>).<\/FONT>  I agree with each of its major Findings:<\/FONT><\/FONT><\/DIV>
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#1 Forty years after Gideon v. Wainwright<\/I><\/FONT><\/FONT><\/FONT>, indigent defense in the United States remains <\/FONT><\/FONT><\/FONT><\/DIV>
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in a state of <\/FONT><\/FONT>crisis, resulting in a system that lacks fundamental fairness and places poor <\/FONT><\/FONT><\/FONT><\/FONT><\/DIV>
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persons at constant risk <\/FONT><\/FONT>of wrongful conviction. <\/FONT><\/FONT><\/FONT><\/FONT><\/DIV>
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#2  Funding for indigent defense services is shamefully inadequate. The lack of funding impacts <\/FONT><\/FONT><\/FONT><\/DIV>
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on virtually every aspect of indigent defense systems.<\/FONT><\/FONT><\/DIV>
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#3  In addition to providing <\/FONT><\/FONT>constitutionally adequate representation, lawyers who defend the <\/FONT><\/FONT><\/FONT><\/FONT><\/DIV>
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indigent also are required to <\/FONT><\/FONT>provide representation that is “competent,” as required by rules <\/FONT><\/FONT><\/FONT><\/FONT><\/DIV>
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of professional conduct. . . . <\/FONT><\/FONT>Yet, defense lawyers for the indigent sometimes are unable to or <\/FONT><\/FONT><\/FONT><\/FONT><\/DIV>
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do not comply with this and other requirements, and as a nation we tolerate substandard <\/FONT><\/FONT><\/FONT><\/DIV>
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representation in indigent defense that is not acceptable practice on behalf of paying clients. <\/FONT><\/FONT><\/FONT><\/DIV>
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However, ethical violations routinely are ignored not only by the lawyers themselves, but also <\/FONT><\/FONT><\/FONT><\/DIV>
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by judges and disciplinary authorities.<\/FONT><\/FONT><\/FONT><\/DIV><\/BLOCKQUOTE>
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I also agree that indigent defendants are far more likely to receive consistently competent representation<\/FONT><\/FONT><\/DIV>
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in a system with fulltime public defenders (with statewide monitoring and funding) than from situations<\/FONT><\/DIV>
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that rely heavily on assigned <\/FONT>counsel. (see prior post<\/A>)<\/FONT><\/FONT><\/FONT><\/DIV>
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