AUSTIN – The Texas Public Policy Foundation today released a paper by Center for Effective Justice Director Marc Levin on providing timely counsel for indigent defendants. The paper, Bringing Balance to Pretrial Proceedings: Solutions for Early Representation of Indigent Defendants, identifies improvements in pretrial justice for those unable to afford counsel.
“Access to counsel during the pretrial decision-making process is fundamental to achieving a more just system, but fairness for defendants need not impose a heavier burden on taxpayers,” said Levin. “The best way expedite the provision of indigent counsel in the pretrial process is to simultaneously shrink the criminal justice system so the same resources can buy more justice."
To read the full report, visit: http://txpo.li/early-representation-for-indigent-defendants
Marc A. Levin is director of the Center for Effective Justice at the Texas Public Policy Foundation.
The Texas Public Policy Foundation is a non-profit, free-market research institute based in Austin, Texas.