Check out this article from apublicdefender.com.
I mean, it is Texas, but come on.
The Public Defender’s office is clearly not protecting the very people they claim to zealously represent. I guess now it’s up to the ACLU or some generous private attorney willing to take on the system? Clearly this is a systematic way to investigate the poor (and inevitably, people of color) without probable cause or even reasonable suspicion. At a minimum, we have 4th, 5th, and 6th Amendment violations going on here.
This is going to result in a ton of people not applying for a PD, which probably means they will plead guilty pro se, in total violation of Gideon v. Wainwright (they asked for a lawyer, and likely qualified for one, but the state is placing an insurmountable obstacle in their way).
Shameful.
Tags: 4th Amendment 5th Amendment 6th Amendment ACLU American Civil Liberties Union Constitution Constitutional Violations Criminal Lawyer Gideon Gideon v. Wainwright Indigent Kentucky Criminal Lawyer Lawyer PD Plead Plead Guilty Poor Pro Se Probable Cause Public Defender Reasonable Suspicion Texas