ND Sol,

The point I was making was that our criminal defense system allows those with the money to hire an attorney; whereas, those who are poor or working poor have to depend on the State to provide an attorney. In the case I cited, people had to go before a judge without an attorney - clearly 2nd class.
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http://www.jsonline.com/news/metro/dec02/101993.asp exert -

In Wisconsin, a single person living on as little as $248 a month does not qualify for a state-funded public defender.....A Journal Sentinel investigation of more than 400 Milwaukee County cases in which people were denied a public defender showed that most defendants were poor by almost any other measure. Many represented themselves in court and quickly pleaded guilty, often after judges steered them to prosecutors.
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http://www.wsws.org/articles/2005/ju...defe-j18.shtml exert -

...Defendants who had been arrested and were unable to post bail were detained for months in local jails, losing employment, belongings, and, in some cases, their families.

...A Montana bill, passed by the state legislature June 8, approved the creation of a statewide office to oversee public defense as of July 2006. The American Civil Liberties Union hailed the legislation, calling it a “national model for other states striving to remedy deficiencies” in public defense.
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* yea to my new home State, Montana, for properly funding public defense! Also passed the most comprehensive State legislation oppossing the unPATRIOT act.

In criminal defense, everyone should have the same quality of defense, regardless of your ability to pay. Maybe our court rooms should be more like our emergency rooms? How about selecting an attorney and after the trail, paying based on the ability to pay with the State reimbursing for what a person cannot pay.