NCJ Number
142452
Date Published
1992
Length
32 pages
Annotation
This memo outlines a number of serious problems with the National Center for State Courts' assessment of indigent defender systems in nine communities.
Abstract
The literature review for the study is substantially incomplete, selective, and unbalanced. The review ignored a number of national studies that concluded defense systems for the poor are inadequately funded and inefficient. The sample sites used in the study were not randomly selected and did not represent the three systems of indigent defense across the country (public defender, assigned counsel, and contract systems). In addressing the issues of timeliness and performance, felony data from each study site were sometimes combined and then analyzed to determine case outcome and felony disposition time; combining data from sites obscures important differences that must be considered: varying speedy trial requirements, one and two- tiered felony systems, and local rules. The report does not emphasize the critical importance of maintaining independence between judges and indigent defense counsel; the tone of the report is directed more toward the efficiency of the court than defendant rights. In describing the various study sites, the researchers failed, in some instances, to provide detailed information, some of which would negate their analysis. Finally, the report states in several places that the analysis of the various sties and the conclusions drawn should not be generalized across the country; yet, numerous times the report does exactly this. A 77-item selected bibliography