Criminal Justice Lawyers
Q.After months of intense national scrutiny of its treatment of criminal defendants, Texas is moving closer to creating its 1st statewide public-defender system. A bill approved unanimously last week by committees in the State Senate and House of Representatives would for the 1st time set statewide standards and provide $12 million in state financing for a system of representing indigent defendants in Texas, 1 of only 4 states that provides no money for that purpose. The bill will probably be taken up by the full legislature in the next week or 2, and the bipartisan support for it gives it a good chance of being signed into law. The measure represents a remarkable shift for a state whose tough stance on criminal justice issues has long been a source of pride to some and embarrassment to others. As recently as the legislature's last session 2 years ago, then-Gov. George W. Bush vetoed a far less comprehensive bill. Supporters of the measure say the biggest impetus for change was the news coverage that accompanied Mr. Bush's presidential campaign. What's your opinion????
A.Friend who used to run the Texas Center for Correctional Services in Austin (till G. Bush de-funded it 'cause he thought it was a sop to the Texas Criminal Defense Lawyer's Assn) was visiting this week, made the point that this is public relations, and not much of that when you get past the headline; his office found lawyers to handle probation/parole revocations for adults and juveniles, paid 'em $50 or so for each case. News recently in Dallas that criminal trial judges have paid one Dallas lawyer well over $1 million in the past few years to respond to letters and filings from convicts about their cases. Post-conviction motions for relief and such. Dallas Public Defender agency (not all the Dallas criminal trial courts use 'em, some judges like the perk of appointing lawyers and paying them what they think appropriate, of course, no reason whatsoever for those appointed to help with contributions at re-election time ... tongue firmly in cheek) budget isn't appreciably higher than that. $12 million to defend every indigent statewide is less than the budget of the D-A's office in several major counties. Texas has 264 counties. If the playing field was to be truly equal, the public defenders and the prosecutors would get equal dollars in tax money. That'll never happen anywhere!
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