Are public defenders and related judicial infrastructure forms of entitlements/welfare/handouts?

[Roboteer]

Are public defenders and related judicial infrastructure forms of entitlements/welfare/handouts?


They are one of the Constitution's ways of performing its most important function: Protecting citizens from their government.

And the bigger government gets, the more vital and important public defenders get.

[AguaDulce]

Originally Posted by MPowering1

The right to legal defense even if one cannot pay for it is a Constitutional right.

Source?

[Fifty Seven]

Originally Posted by AguaDulce

Why should my tax dollars go to pay for someone else's legal services? If you can't do the time . . . right?

You're not being as clever as you think you are being here, and you haven't backed anyone in to the corner you think you've backed them in to.

[MPowering1]

Originally Posted by MPowering1
The right to legal defense even if one cannot pay for it is a Constitutional right.

Originally Posted by AguaDulce

Source?

Please tell me you're not serious.

[AguaDulce]

Originally Posted by MPowering1

Please tell me you're not serious.

I'm not serious.

I know what the Sixth Amendment is:

"In all criminal prosecutions, the accused shall enjoy the right to a speedy and public trial, by an impartial jury of the State and district wherein the crime shall have been committed, which district shall have been previously ascertained by law, and to be informed of the nature and cause of the accusation; to be confronted with the witnesses against him; to have compulsory process for obtaining witnesses in his favor, and to have the Assistance of Counsel for his defence."

Still, it wasn't until 1961 that the Court extended the rule that applied in federal courts to state courts.