The Valdosta Daily Times
VALDOSTA — Many of the Constitution’s initial Bill of Rights concern matters of court. There are provisions concerning prosecution, the right to a fair and speedy trial, the right to a trial by jury, no excessive bail, no cruel or unusual punishment.
These constitutional amendments are primarily designed to protect an individual against overzealous government prosecution. These beliefs are behind the old adage that it is better for 10 guilty people to be set free than for one innocent soul to be wrongly imprisoned.
That said, Georgia’s public-defender system is reaching crisis mode. One can only wonder how many guilty may go free and how many innocents remain jailed because of this lack of funding?
The idea behind the public defenders is to provide viable legal representation to suspects who cannot afford to hire an attorney. As they say on television crime shows: “If you can’t afford an attorney, one will be provided for you.” That provided attorney would be one on the public-defender payroll.
Yet, like many state agencies and programs, the public-defender system has faced budget cuts and unexpected expenses, but this program has been financially troubled since 2005, according to a recent Associated Press report.
“The state now can’t afford to pay to defend the accused in several capital punishment cases, leaving them waiting in jail for years before their trials start,” according to the AP.
For those who believe in the traditional American ideal of innocent until proven guilty, the thought of unconvicted individuals spending years jailed is both unconstitutional and an outrage.
Yet, there are those who also believe that only the guilty are arrested. There are those who adhere to an opposite credo of guilty until proven innocent. Well, unless the public defender situation is resolved, they may have just as much reason to be outraged.
For while it is outrageous that someone who is charged but did not commit the crime may be jailed for years, it is just as shocking that someone who may have committed a serious crime may have a higher court drop their charges and free them because they were not afforded a constitutionally guaranteed speedy trial.
Justice is not served in either case.
