August 27, 2006

TX: p.d. hating in Houston

From Texas' African-American News and Issues:

Black Need Private Attorneys, Not "Public Pretenders"

We as a Black people are consumer drunks when it comes to wanting the best of the best...

However, (w)hen we are nailed by law enforcement and need criminal defense attorneys, we opt to go "cheap" and trust our lives with public "pretenders" (defenders).

Public pretenders are nothing more than "yes" men and women whose devotion lies with the prosecutor, state, court and judge, not with you as a defendant...


Will one or two of my hard-working p.d. colleagues, African-American or otherwise, please respond to this guy? I might, but in my current mood I'm afraid that all I'd do would be to flame him, and I try so hard to stay civil.

1 Comment:

John D. McLauchlan said...

I wouldn't even know where to begin addressing the depth of his ignorance. I do agree with him on one point- anyone with the resources to hire a lawyer needs to do it. Then public defenders could spend their time representing the truly indigent instead of the bargain hunters.

I wonder where he's writing from. Harris County (Houston) doesn't even have a public defender's office. If he's referring to Dallas, I've heard that tired old "you're paid by the state, so you're for them" garbage for years.

Next time he needs a lawyer, maybe he should have a garage sale and get a retained attorney. Maybe he'll get someone who's really good, maybe not.