OTHER OPINIONS : Quality counts
Posted on Wednesday, October 8, 2008
URL: http://www.nwanews.com/bcdr/Editorial/66576/
Among all the bills leaders of Washington County government may consider asking area representatives in the state Legislature to propose during next year’s upcoming session, perhaps one of them should be a request for more assistance in footing the bill for the quality public defenders our justice system so heavily depends on.
On Sept. 30, the Washington County Quorum Court Budget Committee of the Whole tabled a request for salary increases for two lawyers in the local Pub lic Defender’s Office. JPs H. L. Goodwin Jr. and Tom Lundstrum couldn’t see the sense (more appropriately, couldn’t find the cents ) to support an increase for Autumn Tolbert (from $ 36, 000 to $ 44, 000 ) and Julie Tolleson (from $ 36, 000 to $ 60, 000 ) anytime soon — or at least so long as 640 other county employees are set to receive a 25-cent cost-of-living raise and a 1. 5 percent increase in merit pay.
The last we heard, the situation is set to be discussed further during a budget committee meeting scheduled for 4: 45 p. m. Oct. 14.
It’s important to appreciate the awkward position county government finds itself in. True, skeptics will say, if these two lawyers — who bring much experience, training and smarts to the table — expect to be paid the big bucks some of their peers are making, they never should have gone into the business of defending folks charged with committing a crime but who cannot afford to pay for a defense. Everyone who knows anyone associated with the Public Defender’s Office, though, knows those folks aren’t there for the money. They want to provide quality representation to people who cannot afford private lawyers. That’s a positive contribution to society. But the Public Defender’s Office needs quality lawyers. One cannot succumb to the sometimes too popular notion that indigent defendants somehow deserve less when the government seeks to take away their liberty. One can feel that way about convicted people, but the core principle of this nation’s justice system presumes innocence until one is proven guilty, and everyone deserves a defense when liberty is at stake. Finances are tight, though. Even a county government as prosperous as ours may not readily have the cash to sign off on significant pay increases for employees here and there — regardless of how deserving they may be, and especially when their co-workers aren’t getting much in raises. County government shouldn’t say no to Tolbert and Tolleson but should strive for as much of the request as is manageable.
— Northwest Arkansas Times