Wednesday, May 19, 2010

The Right to Competent Counsel -- Part 2

From the New York Times comes a story about who you do not want to represent you if you are accused of a capital crime:

A good way to end up on death row in Texas is to be accused of a capital crime and have Jerry Guerinot represent you.

Twenty of Mr. Guerinot’s clients have been sentenced to death. That is more people than are awaiting execution in about half of the 35 states that have the death penalty.

And next comes a chilling kicker:

“People who are well represented at trial do not get the death penalty,” Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg has said.

So what does this say about our justice system? Equal justice for all or are those who can afford it effectively allowed to be treated according to different rules? Is this a constitutional violation? If so how?

- Heres a previous post on the same subject.