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Lawyers protest sharp cut in pay By Paula McMahon Staff Writer Posted May 20 2004 South Florida attorneys and Broward County's chief judge are predicting a serious crisis in the criminal justice system after July 1, when the paycheck for representing low-income people accused of capital crimes will be slashed statewide to a maximum of $3,500. As the burden for paying court-related costs shifts this summer from counties to the state, local attorneys and legal experts are predicting that it will be impossible to get lawyers to do the demanding and emotionally draining work of representing poor people who face the death penalty. Death cases are the most challenging and time-consuming because a life is at stake and the attorney must try to save it. And even supporters of the death penalty should be concerned, local attorneys said, because the problems will slow down cases and may make them even more likely to be reversed on appeal. "I think concerned is too light a word to describe what I feel, I think it borders on the critical," said Broward Chief Judge Dale Ross. "If we're limited to $3,500, I can see a crisis looming. "At $3,500, I don't think we're going to get anyone to represent these people, and if we were to get somebody for that money, I'm not sure what caliber of representation we would get," Ross said. He is drafting a letter to the program's administrators in Tallahassee to express concern and press for more realistic rates. At issue are cases in which courts appoint private attorneys to represent indigent defendants when the Public Defender has a conflict of interest. On Wednesday, the Broward Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers wrote to Ross expressing grave concerns about the fee cuts. Joint association presidents Michael Gottlieb and Charlie Kaplan said they have not yet found a local lawyer willing to take on a case for that amount of money. "That would average out at about $3 per hour for these complex cases," Gottlieb said. "It's certainly below minimum wage and any attorney willing to take a case for that would not be qualified to handle it." The association is considering filing a class action lawsuit because the rate cut would deprive judges of the ability to appoint effective attorneys to represent poor people, a right the U.S. Constitution guarantees every defendant, said Bruce Rogow, a Fort Lauderdale attorney and nationally recognized expert on constitutional law. Rogow said he is interested in handling such a case for the association. "It is the hardest, most debilitating kind of work," Rogow said. "When you do it, your bed is wet at night with sweat because of the pressure and the responsibility." ... ----- "If voting could really change things, it would be illegal." - Diebold Internal Memos
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