I’d just note that in my jurisdiction, if you had the choice between random draw of the deputy public defenders, and random draw of the private attorneys, you’d want to take out of the first group. Public defense does not have to suck, and often doesn’t.
That said, there are certainly differences in defense attorney quality, differences that matter.
Do you think the difference between the range of quality for deputy public defenders and for private attorneys is typical? If not, any theories about what causes the difference?
From my discussions in other mid-size and larger counties which have full-time properly paid public defenders, yes.
The reason for it is (IMO) that full-time public defenders often have much more experience, plus specific interest in criminal law. You won’t get the hand-holding, but you will get the expertise.
In places where public defenders are paid poorly (or you have some other alternate defense method which pays poorly) your attorney pool will be, predictably, poorer.
Again, there are some… unfortunate attorneys of all stripes out there. But if you’re in a jurisdiction where there’s money and effort being put in public defense, that effort has a payoff.
I’d just note that in my jurisdiction, if you had the choice between random draw of the deputy public defenders, and random draw of the private attorneys, you’d want to take out of the first group. Public defense does not have to suck, and often doesn’t.
That said, there are certainly differences in defense attorney quality, differences that matter.
Do you think the difference between the range of quality for deputy public defenders and for private attorneys is typical? If not, any theories about what causes the difference?
From my discussions in other mid-size and larger counties which have full-time properly paid public defenders, yes.
The reason for it is (IMO) that full-time public defenders often have much more experience, plus specific interest in criminal law. You won’t get the hand-holding, but you will get the expertise.
In places where public defenders are paid poorly (or you have some other alternate defense method which pays poorly) your attorney pool will be, predictably, poorer.
Again, there are some… unfortunate attorneys of all stripes out there. But if you’re in a jurisdiction where there’s money and effort being put in public defense, that effort has a payoff.