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The Price of Justice

By Steve Hall

That's the title of an in-depth, three-day examination of Texas' indigent defense system, particularly in Hidalgo County in South Texas.  The Monitor of McAllen series is a must-read.  It's written by Jeremy Roebuck and Jared Janes.  The series front is here. Hidalgo County is set to pay $8.6 million this year for providing attorneys to criminal defendants who couldn?t afford to hire their own. It?s a cost both state law and the U.S. Constitution obligate local governments to pay ? but one that is becoming harder to afford. Hidalgo County?s indigent defense spending has increased from $2 million in 2001 to a projected $9.9 million in 2010 ? a 375 percent growth over a decade. Some say that?s just the price of justice in a region with one of the poorest, yet fastest growing populations in the nation...continue to full post

Full post as published by StandDown Texas Project on December 22, 2009 (boomark / email).