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Will Budget Cuts Impact Criminal Justice?

June 15th, 2009

Prosecutor’s loss of staff will impact their office’s ability to prosecute crimes.  Attorneys will be assigned further cases to their already overloaded caseloads.  Specialized units may have to be shut down.  Law Enforcement can still make arrests, but without adequate resources, cases cannot be appropriately prosecuted.

Everyone has the right to a fair trial.  In order to insure this the United States Constitution requires that an accused person who is charged with a crime and cannot afford to hire a lawyer must be appointed an attorney by the government. While in order to insure equal access to a fair trial indigent defendants are entitled to a Public Defender or appointed counsel, budget cutbacks threaten the availability of Public Defenders and court appointed counsel.  Of further concern is that the economic downturn will result in an increasing number of unemployed people needing to rely on Public Defender and court appointed counsel services.

Lack of Public Defender and appointed counsel staffing with result in delays.  No one gets a fair trial if they need to wait several months for trial.  Further, lack of resource caused delays will drive up incarceration expenses.

Budget cuts and the lack of staff will result in Public Defender and appointed counsel being unable to provide adequate representation to clients.  Inadequate representation increases the likelihood that not guilty people will be wrongfully convicted.  The expense to the government in reversing a wrongful conviction can be staggering.

If you have questions regarding criminal justice issues contact the San Jose criminal defense attorneys at the Law Offices of Bernard P. Bray.

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