Court Weighs Legal Rights of Mich. Poor

[Rose Siding]

WASHINGTON - With backing from two-fifths of all states, Michigan asked the Supreme Court on Monday to decide whether a state can refuse to pay for appeals by indigent defendants who plead guilty to crimes.

Michigan is the only state with such a law, which was ruled unconstitutional by lower courts. Other states looking to cut the number of appeals clogging their courts are eager to follow Michigan's lead, and 21 filed briefs with the Supreme Court in support of the Michigan law.
.........
The amendment was meant to clear a backlog of more than 4,000 cases before the appeals court, one-third of which were from defendants who had pleaded guilty. Michigan Solicitor General Thomas Casey said most such defendants appeal for reduced sentences.

Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg (news - web sites) said she was concerned that an indigent defendant might not understand what issues to appeal. Moran agreed and said one of the defendants in this case is functionally illiterate.

"A typical indigent is completely incapable of getting their case heard," Moran said.

http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story2&u=/ap/20041004/ap_on_go_su_co/scotus_poor_defendants

[Rose Siding]

1. kick

[Eloriel]

2. Important case

I hope SCOTUS does the right thing. I'm hopeful, but not optimistic.

[sweetheart]

3. packing the prisons with poor

Geez, i'm speachless... what kind of justice is there if there is
no right to appeal based on economic deprivation... only for those
who can afford the courts... and of course that is supported by the
negative 43rd amendment, which states that the poor shall not have
equal rights as the rich, because the rich own the capital, and that
gives them more rights. (never ask where the negative amendments
are written or ratified... its secret... illuminati, and the
trilateral commission and the freemasons did it )

Somethings wrong here: (and it smells like racism and plutocracy):
http://hrw.org/backgrounder/usa/incarceration/

[w4rma]

4. Debtor prisons are illegal in America and should stay illegal. (nt)