NCJ Number
133124
Journal
Rutgers Law Review Volume: 43 Issue: 2 Dated: (Winter 1991) Pages: 281-353
Date Published
1991
Length
73 pages
Annotation
This analysis of statutory limitations on the fees paid to court-appointed attorneys and its implication for indigent defendants concludes that states that want to retain capital punishment should not require a small class of lawyers to handle the immense financial burden of representing the growing number of defendants accused of capital crimes.
Abstract
Appointed counsel face the difficult responsibility of exercising capital defendants' statutory and constitutional protections. Despite this fact, States have declined to pay attorneys more than small fees for cases that are likely to be the most demanding of the lawyer's career. The current rate in Texas, Florida, Louisiana, and Georgia, which have carried out 73 percent of the executions since 1976, is about $2,000 per case. This policy deprives defendants of the most vigorous defense available and forces appointed attorneys to sacrifice their private practices, usually for a token fee that does not approach the minimum established by Congress. Therefore, States should raise their fees to a reasonable level. Analysis of appellate and U.S. Supreme Court decisions, 266 footnotes, and appended table showing each State's fees