Recently installed Wisconsin Supreme Court Justice Michael Gableman failed to "reach out" to State public defenders on the first day of their annual conference in Milwaukee yesterday, but he was certainly there in spirit.
Gableman, who received his mandate from roughly 9.5% of the electorate while losing the county where he had been district attorney, told the Journal-Sentinel last month he "hoped to meet" with members of the criminal defense bar at the conference.
But while Gableman was nowhere to be found during such seminar presentations as "Update on the Confrontation Clause," his grim countenance hovered over an open forum devoted to discussing — inter alia — the princely sum of $40 an hour private attorneys are allowed to bill the State for representing indigent clients.
That fee, established by statute and unchanged since hi-test gasoline was less than $1.50 a gallon, is frequently the subject of the Wisconsin State Public Defender's budget requests. However, promising to increase it is often not a winning election issue for legislators for some reason.
And, as at least one lawyer remarked yesterday, it clearly doesn't help when a successful candidate for the Supreme Court bases practically his entire campaign on demonizing the role of the public defender which, like freedom of speech and religion, is guaranteed to penniless criminal defendants by the United States Constitution.
Despite this, the full-time public defenders continue in their efforts and private attorneys zealously guard the constitutional rights of less fortunate Wisconsin citizens for a comparative pittance.
Gableman still has several more $40 hours remaining to "reach out" to the public defenders, as the annual conference concludes today.
September 26, 2008
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I've heard that ivy league law school students are known to "hiss" certain law school professors whose Socratic method crosses the line and unfairly embarrasses students. Apologies to professors everywhere, as I don't mean to insinuate that our newbie "justice" be lumped amongst their honorable ranks. I am, however, just throwing out an observation. Solidarity amongst those who work for pennies could produce an interesting reaction. And what the heck, there's no budget increase on the horizon, and who's there to cozy up to anyways.
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