Rights to a Fair Trial

That's the title of a letter to the editor in today's New York Times by John Holdridge and Christopher Hill of the ACLU Capital Punishment Project.  LINK

Georgia’s refusal to adequately fund the defense of capital cases is not an isolated incident. In fact, numerous studies have reported the same failure in the vast majority of death penalty states.

The problem is particularly acute in “the death belt,” which includes Texas, Oklahoma, Alabama, Mississippi, South Carolina, Missouri, and now (once again) Georgia, among others.

Inadequate funding means inadequate legal representation and unfair trials. The climbing number of exonerations of innocent people makes it painfully clear that substandard representation is unacceptable.

Many politicians love to proclaim their support for capital punishment, but then refuse to pay for a fair system. The Constitution guarantees criminal defendants effective assistance of counsel and a fair trial, and that costs money.

The costs are much higher in capital cases. It’s an expensive fact of life — and death.

The indigent defense index is here.