Read Snowden’s Comments On 9/11 That NBC Didn’t Broadcast

[Drew Phipps]

I've never seen England's criminal justice system in action, so I'll take your word for it. There is a similar (mis-?) perception of court-appointed counsel here in the States. In most jurisdictions, taking court appointed cases is just expected of a practitioner when you do criminal work in that jurisdiction. Although I am aware that there are some lawyers that unfortunately treat their indigent clients less seriously than the paying ones, I think the extent to which the perception is applied is wildly over exaggerated. By far, most of the attorneys that I know don't "slack off" for court-appointments.


I have to say, though, that having a substantial budget for defense investigators and experts can dramatically change the outcome of a case; and it is a challenge (but not impossible) to persuade a judge (with a budget of his/her own) to allot to a court-appointed attorney a sum of enough taxpayer money to make the dramatic difference.