We Can Do Better Part 7

WE CAN DO BETTER 7

By Alan Miller, Candidate for Judge Superior Court II 

Fairness and Defense Attorneys 

Another substantial issue with the Dearborn County justice system is fairness. This broad statement applies to every participant in the system: prosecutors, police officers, defense attorneys, attorneys who appear before the court in civil matters, probation officers, community corrections officers, and the laypeople who appear before the court as a party. A lack of fairness, and even the appearance thereof, can lead to a distrust of the system itself. It is time to eliminate even the appearances of impropriety and restore the public’s faith in our justice system.

Criminal Defense Attorneys

Good defense attorneys improve the overall quality of the justice system. Good defense attorneys serve as an important part of our system of checks and balances. By fighting for his or her clients and holding all in the system accountable, a good defense attorney has the ability to make everyone in the system better. When the system improves, reductions in the number of case dismissals and overturned convictions follow. Further, when the system improves, the public wins as they can be assured they are being protected within the boundaries and letter of the law. 

On the other hand, there are few things that can undermine the public’s trust in the justice system more than bad defense attorneys. Public defenders, often inexperienced and overworked, are viewed in a particularly negative light. When the quality of representation offered to criminal defendants is subpar, it can impact fairness by creating an uneven playing field for the individual charged and can lead to other grave consequences for our justice system.  

What follows over the next several weeks are my proposals to better the quality of representation, and thereby the justice system in Dearborn County. 

This is the seventh part of my platform statement; a detailed proposal for how to improve our current justice system. It will be released over the next several months through facebook.com/makeitmiller2012 and makeitmiller2012.com. PLEASE feel free to forward this to your friends and family.
Thanks for your continued support!

Alan Miller