Articles
Study Shows Income Gap in Criminal Justice System
According to the Spangenberg Groups Study about prosecution in relation to defense resources, the difference between the resources available to state prosecutors and the resources given to public defenders and court attorneys is “astonishing.”
The difference in the resources made available reportedly has been influential in the amount spent on each party annually.
The Study
As reported by the study, prosecutors have at least four times as many resources available to them in criminal cases.
“The public defenders in Tennessee already have one of the highest caseloads in the country and when you look at the compensation rate and the caps on payment to private attorney’s who are appointed to indigent cases, you know that Tennessee is right at the bottom,” explains Bill Redick, spokesman for the Tennessee Justice Project (TJP).
Tennessee Falls Behind
“There was a time when we were ahead of the curve,” says Mark Stephens, a Knox County Public Defender, of Tennessee. “In the last 15 years every single state has caught us or passed us.”
Unlike states like Georgia, who recently spent $80 million on defense, Tennessee has fallen behind and has become known as the state that spends the least amount on indigent defense.
The Proof
Brad McLean, from the TJP, says the problems are being made worse as district attorney positions are being added at a faster rate than positions for public defenders.
“Since 2005 the Legislature has funded 59 district attorney positions while only adding 21 public defender positions,” claims McLean.
Stephens also claims that his 22 defenders are not allotted a sufficient time, only 72 minutes, when handling serious cases.
“When I was a prosecutor,” Stephens explains, “I got my case and it would be about 75 percent done. As a public defender, I get a photocopy of the warrant and right away I’m behind a rock, while the DA is 75 percent ready to try the case.”
The (TJP) claims that this is evidence of an unjust legal system and the economic inequality is only worsening with time.
(Source: The City Paper)
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