Blog Action Day 2008: The poverty line runs through the courtroom
Published October 15, 2008 @ 02:05PM PST
Today is Blog Action Day, and thousands of bloggers around the world are posting about the issue of poverty. The connections (and disconnects) between poverty and justice are as obvious as they are many. In the U.S., and in most of the world, you get the justice you pay for. As the U.S. plunges into recession, we're already seeing states with budget shortfalls making cuts across the board. Indigent defense is often among the first to go.
Some recent news from the world of indigent defense:
- A Georgia judge said recent cuts to the state's public defense budget means a crisis for 2,000 people charged with crimes.
- Minnesota's court system has been slowed this year by state cuts.
- Maine is facing wide-ranging criminal justice cuts, which will affect indigent defense.
Author
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Matt Kelley
- Brooklyn, NY
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Matt has worked and volunteered in various capacities in criminal justice reform for several years. When he's not blogging, he works as the Online Communications Manager at the Innocence Project. Views expressed here are Matt's, and don't represent the positions of the Innocence Project.
