Florida’s lack of commitment to the welfare of its citizens has once again gotten national attention.
This time, budget cuts are forcing overworked public defender’s offices to sue for the right to refuse cases. PD offices around the state are already spread so thin they can’t properly defend their poor clients. Now they say any additional cases will make their workload so overwhelming as to violate their clients’ constitutional right to an attorney.
Either way, thousands of poor people accused of minor felonies – mostly nonviolent offenses like robberies and cocaine possession – will be left without real legal defense, forced to turn to private attorneys or charitable legal aid groups.
Under Bill White, the 4th Circuit PD office built a staff that pushed each other put in 60 and 70-hour workweeks for less pay than they would have made in private practice, out of a commitment to the integrity of our judicial system.
But this was a “change” election, according to a Florida Times-Union puff piece on Matt Shirk, the Republican who ousted White from office this election. Shirk plans on saving taxpayers money by requiring his office to charge fees. Most of White’s dedicated staff will be resigning in January.
Public defenders are often called liberty’s last champion. In Florida, Bill White’s office in Jacksonville was one of the few public defender’s offices in the state that hadn’t completely crumbled under budget cuts and rising caseloads. Liberty’s last-last champion – low-cost private attorneys and charitable legal groups – will have to step into the void.
It’s a sad day in Jacksonville… But this also raises an interesting question. Should public defenders even be elected? Florida, Tennessee, Nebraska and San Francisco are the only places in the country with elected public defenders. Some states allow county commissioners to elect PDs, but that’s probably not a viable option. The truth is the majority of the people don’t even think the office should be in place anyway. People who commit crimes should go to jail. End of story. So then jerk-offs like Matt Shirk get elected and liberty’s last champion is no more. The last office truly for the people is no longer for the people.
Get your facts straight. Do an investigation before popping off. Do you know the caseload of the staff that will not be retained by Shirk? McGuinness had a TOTAL of four cases pending. His ONLY claim to fame was his appearance in the documentary “Murder on a Sunday Morning.” He was lucky that the film crew chose that case. Of course, had McGuinness and Finnell had the purse processed during the pendency of the case, they could’ve saved their client 6 months waiting for trial, not to mention the risk of getting convicted and sentenced to life for something he didn’t do. The gambled and luckily won. The purse had the fingerprints of the real killer and the rules of procedure and law would’ve permitted a defense motion to have it processed. Either way, these two lawyers had a total of 5 pending cases. These two lawyers were in the top 3 paid in the office. These two lawyers were notorious for coming into work late and leaving well before 5. These two lawyers also made perfectly clear they were leaving the office if Shirk won. McGuinness has been spreading his lies and half truths since the election. What a disingenious prick.