Friday, November 13, 2009
new book on why the system sucks
Has anyone read the book "Ordinary Injustice" by Amy Bach? I'm uncertain whether I'd like to - I already hear enough of what a hack I am. I'm not sure that I disagree with her premise - I guess I'd have to read the book to find out. Any PDs out there going to wade through it?
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4 comments:
I'm not a public defender, I'm a writer. I have a character who is a pd. She is smart, hardworking and somewhat optimistic about human nature. She has just been assigned her first homicide case.
I would appreciate greatly an answer to this question: Can a lawyer be assigned a case by a judge when the lawyer just happens to be in the courtroom or does the assignment always go to the public defender's office where it is then assigned to a lawyer?
Thank you very much for reading this post and thank you even more if you answer my question!
It could be either way. Each jurisdiction has their own way of assigning attorneys, and I'm aware of several jurisdictions that have panels of attorneys who get assignments to a court for a day just to get assigned to cases like that. Some jurisdictions have a group of attorneys explicitly for homicides. Some jurisdictions assign only to the public defender's office. And some just assign whatever attorney happens to be around.
Thank you for your reply. You are kind. I am enjoying your blog and am using insights and information I glean from it to give my character more depth. I think you would like her... She likes you!
I'm not sure I can read the book. I know what the failings of my position are, and I deal with it by trying to be realistic, take it a case at a time, and do what I can. I can't fix the system, but I can try to get justice for one client at a time. Reading a book highlighting the problems of the system, and the failings of public defenders, well, I live it every day, and even if it's an awesome book, I think it will make me angry in a bad way.
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