The Spark

the Voice of
The Communist League of Revolutionary Workers–Internationalist

“The emancipation of the working class will only be achieved by the working class itself.”
— Karl Marx

Baltimore, Maryland:
Public Defender Refuses to Defend

Apr 1, 2002

At the end of March, the Public Defender’s Office refused to represent four prisoners in Baltimore Circuit court.

The Public Defenders Office says that each of its attorneys already handle more than 200 cases per year. That is about one case per work day. So, in reality, those who cannot afford to hire a private lawyer were already not getting very real legal representation.

But now everything is out in the open.

A defendant who is a cook at Taco Bell was told by the judge that he had to appear for his trial “with or without counsel.”

He couldn’t be more clear: criminals who are rich can pay a lawyer to get them off from any charge, while the poor, no matter what, if anything, they did, can rot in jail because they can’t afford to pay.