By justina colmena ~biz in crime —

Mass trials with collective plea bargaining dropped

Catholic charities, vows of poverty, courts of common pleas and general doctrines of enforcing dependency on the poor

Charges dropped against more than 120 defendants in Massachusetts because they can’t get attorney
More than 120 cases, including some for assault on family members and police, were dismissed Tuesday in Boston, the latest fallout from a monthslong dispute over pay that has led public defenders to stop taking new clients. At a mostly empty courtroom, Boston Municipal Court Chief Justice Tracy-Lee Lyons invoked the Lavallee protocol in dismissing case after case. It requires cases be dropped if a defendant hasn’t had an attorney for 45 days and released from custody if they haven’t had one for seven days.
Yahoo NewsMICHAEL CASEY
... The pay of public defenders is a national issue ... rising caseloads, high turnover and low salaries. ... what the American Bar Association recommends for manageable caseload standards. ...

They're lawyers. They have to walk off the job and stop taking cases if their case load is too high or if they become saddled with conflicts of interest. Whatever they're being paid, they're always in court and they have to bargain and argue for it.

If you're not in the top 1% of income and/or net worth, even the most minor traffic violation or misdemeanor issue or even a false arrest with all charges dropped will cost you a lifetime of lost earnings, many thousands if not millions of dollars if you have to pay out of pocket to defend yourself in court, once the beat cops get hold of your name in their system, and find you as an easy mark to bilk with fines and bogus criminal or mental health charges.

Expect to lose your home, vehicle, job and friendships, and relationships with your family, and be forced to move out of town by the time these beat cops are done prosecuting some insignificant infraction or another against you.

We're talking about dirty beat cops with an insatiable thirst for human blood in a hideously corrupt torture-chamber forced confession and bail extortion system for the slightest suspicion of any perceived infraction of law or etiquette. You'd be far better off as a defendant at a court-martial facing military prison in most cases.