Forum Post: "Gideon’s Army": Young Public Defenders Brave Staggering Caseloads, Low Pay to Represent the Poor
Posted 11 years ago on Jan. 24, 2013, 4:55 p.m. EST by GirlFriday
(17435)
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This is going to be very good!
Check out the interview with Democracy Now.
GF, one of my daughters is a public defender in Alaska. After having graduated magna cum laude at Fordham LC Campus, and then again near the top of her class at VT Law School where as a 3rd year student she taught writing to 1st year kids.....she refused help from her cousin's husband who is a partner in a very powerful, well-known DC law/lobbying firm which has offices throughout the country. She also refused to practice corporate law which undoubtedly she could have done, and made a lot more money in the process.
I do know that in AK, public defenders are paid substantially better than in most places in the lower '48. I also suspect that despite a big case load that she is given more time to work on her cases. On one case her client was found not guilty after she had asked for an expert witness to be called up from Washington state at a cost of $30,000 to AK.
Other than the fact that....err.. she is smarter than me, I guess the apple does not fall far from the tree,eh? And like you, in her own way recalcitrance runs through her blood too.
Still have to view your link
~Odin~
Great link re. 'Gideon's Army' doc. & ergo :
Thanx for posting and highlighting this.
fiat justitia ...
Thanks.
"Long Distance Revolutionary" - Noam Chomsky & others :
"There is no doubt in my mind, my heart, and my soul that Mumia Abu-Jamal is an innocent man. The case was, as Bob Dylan called Hurricane Carter’s case, “a pig circus.” Read J. Patrick O’Connor’s book “The Framing of Mumia Abu-Jamal” and experience the work of a true investigative journalist."& as good a place for this link as any thread here !
Solidarity @ 'Gideon's Army' !!
fiat justitia ruat caelum !!!
Great place as any.
By Chris Hedges - "The Unsilenced Voice of a ‘Long-Distance Revolutionary’" :
Posted here in compliment to the video above [LDR] with Chomsky, Cornel West, Alice Walker & others. I also append for attention and information the following relevant links :
http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/article33266.htm &
http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/article8451.htm .
From the 1st link : "US breeds a Chinese-style inmate labor scheme on its own soil. Both state and some of the biggest private companies are now enjoying the fruits of a cheap and readily available work force, with tens of millions of dollars spent by private prisons to keep their jails full."
From the 2nd : "Abu Ghraib, Guantanamo – or even Texas. The prisoners and all guards may vary, but the abuse is still too familiar. And much is it is taking place in America’s own backyard."
e tenebris, lux ...
Thanks, I want to check out your 2nd on Chinese-Style Inmate labor...
Here is one for you in return: http://occupywallst.org/forum/public-awareness-new-national-holiday-rico-violati/
6.18.1962C-7 RICO – “Racketeering Activity” Defined “Racketeering activity,” as defined by the RICO statute [federal law], includes any acts that involve or that may be charged as any of a wide range of crimes under state or federal law.
Criminal Conspiracy as Racketeering Act. In United States v. Irizarry, 341 F.3d 273, 301 (3d Cir. 2003),
Guilt of RICO Offense by Aiding and Abetting. A defendant may be guilty of a substantive RICO offense by aiding and abetting under 18 U.S.C. § 2.
"The purpose of the RICO Act was stated as 'the elimination of the infiltration of organized crime and racketeering into legitimate organizations operating in interstate commerce'" taken from your great information link & I also append :
fiat lux ...
Thanks. You saw the news on GM and Adelphi ... the rension or retirement cashed in as part of the GM Bailout ... Now here are the GM Executive Bonuses for getting a bail out for driving the company in the ground. No responsiblity. I still contend that executive bonuses are Illegal if the Comapny needed a bail out.
http://www.detroitnews.com/article/20130128/AUTO0103/301280422
Checkout the law, everyone, a contract is only valid if it is Legal. How can we allow these RICO Violations ... the company loses money, they can't pay bonuses! How can anyone pull money out of their ass and say it is legal to pay bonus money. It is not a Viable Business if it loses money.
Perhaps we need Truly Independent Lawyers with some backbone ... almost like Eliot Spitzer was. Consider - 'THEY' write the laws and infect and subvert academic law departments and faculties & further to your interesting link re. AIG, I append fyi :
fiat justitia ruat caelum ...
Just to stimulate discussion, what is the difference between Elliot Spritzer giving blow jobs in the alley, and him having a prostitute turning gay tricks in his apartment, and him buying high qaulity sex senarios from some street girl in New York?
If we can't take sex liasions off the table for looking at political character .... then most US Politicians are just hiding their sex life and sexual preferences.
If everything is on the table for character in the political theater ... then who the hell would run for office... Europe does it different. Europe ignores the sex, and the sex scandals. Is this more appropriate???? Do you want your bathroom searched by MSM? Do you want your home invaded by investigators?
Lets be frank. Most investigators these days are Federal.
So, lets look at, debate, and make national referendums about sex, sexual affairs, and how that applies to politics. because US politics is all about eating the outliers. It is all about taking down people that get cuaght. It is all about invading peoples personal lives for someone else's personal, political gain.
Re. Eliot Spitzer's sexual proclivities - I have very little idea about that but your point is sound I think. 'THEY' went for him not because of where he puts his 'todger' but much more to do with :
"Spitzer : Federal Reserve is ‘a Ponzi Scheme, an Inside Job’", by Daniel Tencer : http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/article23142.htm &
Also see : http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/article22312.htm .
Thanx for your comment tho' I fear we've strayed somewhat from the subject of GF's important thread !!
Ergo : "The Prison-Industrial Complex" - http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/article19152.htm !
errare humanum est ...
Spitzer — who built a reputation as “the Sheriff of Wall Street” for his zealous prosecutions of corporate crime as New York’s attorney-general and then resigned as the state’s governor over revelations he had paid for prostitutes — seemed to agree with Ratigan that the bank bailout amounts to “America’s greatest theft and cover-up ever.”
Thanks looking at them now. I had forgot that Spitzer was going after Wall Street!!!
"The Criminal Injustice System ", by Ralph Nader :
Appending the above in reply to your comment 'cause it sort of applies as NO FUCKING WALL ST. CRIMINALS HAVE GONE TO JAIL ... and I want to maintain the connection with and don't want to overly subvert GF's thread - as I'm not looking for a 'beat down' from her, lol.
ne quid nimis ...
The same perverse incentives apply to the self-defeating trillion-dollar war on drugs
Good post. I pulled up GFs Link and it is also valuable. Democracy Now continues to lead in the fight for Democracy ...and is an institution.
"America’s War for Reality", by Robert Parry : http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/article33632.htm and appended in keeping with this thread.
Re. http://www.democracynow.org/ - it is 'mos def' one of THE best non-MSM news sources around.
fiat lux ...
Holy Crap. I'm only half way through. Great work here by Shepherd Bliss,
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Men's_studies
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/American_Men%27s_Studies_Association
AMSA is an independent organization that provides a forum for teachers, researchers, students and practitioners to exchange information and to gain support for work on men and masculinities.
I actually haven't seen this Wikipedia link on what being a man is all about.... I see a lot of links and further reading. Can we measure a man by his knowledge of morality.
I think this is important to ask. What does it mean to be a man? What does it mean to seek promotions, salary increases, more benefits ... in context of what we do to make the money? We want to protect and shelter our family .... but at what price to the community?
Who are we? What are we? Is it important how we serve the community? If we work in a job that cuts jobs from the community, state, or country... what does that mean?
I think the answer is obvious when you loook at Latin American History in Central and South America. People are used to approve job cuts, and to cut democracy from the people.
You are not just cutting jobs here in this state, or this community, you are cutting jobs in this country and ... the people that get them are not set free. The people that get your local jobs are getting crap.
There is no up side to all this discourse...
Re. Dr. Shepherd Bliss, please also consider :
http://www.resilience.org/author-detail/1153925-shepherd-bliss &
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/shepherd-bliss/ .
Your comment deserves consideration but I disagree with your last assertion - because if I didn't, why would I be here making this reply ? ~*~
per ardua ad astra et dum spiro, spero !!
wow, Sheperd Bliss is a Role Model. Thanks. So many in OWS are probably role models. I need to learn more.
"Nature’s Capital Is The Limiting Resource", by Paul Craig Roberts :
"Economists have responsibility for earthlings’ ignorance about their environmental dependence. Economics claims that man-made capital is a substitute for nature’s capital. As nature’s capital is depleted, reproducible man-made capital will take its place. This assumption is embodied in the production function that is the basis of modern economic theory. The assumption is absurd, because it assumes that finite resources can support infinite growth. Economists should begin their education with courses in physics.".
pax et lux ...
Or a course in Humanities, John Perkins was in the Peace Corp, then joined the banks as an Economist. Exploiting Resources like Rainforests and Mining in the Amazon is unsustatinable...
Paul Roberts is right, Economist would change though if it wasn't that big money pays for economists to make a living.
John Perkins' history as an "Economic Hitman" warrants attention & PCR was in the heart of the Reagan Administration. Also I append for your consideration :
fiat lux et fiat justitia ...
[-]1 points by shadz66 (10698) 23 hours ago
"America’s War for Reality", by Robert Parry :
Yes, maybe if we can Investigate Vietnam, the Reasons for War, the True Cost of War, the nature of Guerrilla War, .... and Investigate Ronald Reagan ... see Ron Reagan in a True Light ... and Investigate the MLK Assassination to reveal the Truth ... Maybe we can repair this Government & This Congress.
To follow "America's War for Reality" and your comment, please also consider :
Consider, that the USG & Congress may be beyond repair without breaking The Current Corporate Captured Crap of The Republocrat / Demoblican, Dark Duopoly. The Solution ? Democracy !
ad iudicium ...
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Better to give the poor jobs so they can afford to hire lawyers... or even go to law school.
But not if it involves rich people being underemployed right
imeanletsuseeveryopportunitytoadvocateforunderemploymentwheneverpossibleright
Don't waste my time.
Nice compound wordsentence. Do not waste time or space. I thought "mistaken" had left - oh well - this too shall pass.
Yeah, well, hopefully, this too shall pass out.
That would be more preferable than to be like passing a stone {:-]) ahhaha missed you today - so quiet without you.
I've heard that is really dang painful. Ha!
I missed ya back. My hours are all crazy for a minute.
Yep can be killer - so lets go with the pass-out option.
As long as you return - gives me that unpredictable bright spot to look forward to.
We haven't re-invented the wheel lately.
It would explain why you are missing a few spokes.
??? If you were trying to make a joke, I don't see the logical connection.
Sure you do.
Nope. I mentioned the wheel as something that we don't expect the phrase "this, too, shall pass" to apply to.
Now you're saying that I'm a wheel. What?
I'm saying that you aren't well wrapped...
a little frayed at the edges.
A few cards shy of a full deck.
I haven't heard of all those expressions before. You lose 5 cool points. Sorry
Thanks for bumping my post! :D
You forgot to add "That's why you're such a good lol-cow."
An often ignored issue that is a damaging element of the effort to deny justice to the 99%. Glad to bump this great post. Perplexed at the ignoring of the issue by the forum.
The ills of society are many and flood the judicial system - failure of justice is huge - failure of justice is growing as the ills of society progress.
Funny thing - the ills of society are many - but root causes are few = Greed.