The ideals of civil liberties in our society have greatly changed over the years. Two major ideologies of civil liberties that will be discussed in this paper are the ideals of equal rights of due process and that of the rights of the individual to practice whatever form of religion they choose without the encroachment of another's system of beliefs.
The first case is that of Quitman County versus the state of Mississippi. The county claims to have too little funding in order to provide adequate legal council to all persons prosecuted by law. Currently the county has two lawyers assigned to handle the defense of all cases in the county. These two lawyers are paid a flat rate of $1,350 a month to handle all cases that come its way. This money is to be used to cover all trials, appeals, investigators, experts, all overhead costs and it is the personal salary of each individual lawyer. Needless to say, when these two lawyers are looking at their average of roughly 30 cases a year, the money runs a little thin. The constitution calls for all citizens to have the right to a fair trial and to be provided with legal council should they not be able to afford any on their own. This, unfortunately, is a little vague when attempting to determine the legal prowess of the appointed council. How good is good enough? In Quitman County's case, the lawyers just aren't taking the cake. Past defendants claim to feel as if they are merely being processed through the legal system, instead of getting their fair shot at justice. It can be very easy to say from a possible defendant's standpoint that you would want a hard working, experienced, and dedicated lawyer acting as your council. This scenario would be the ideal setting and it is what many local and state authorities are calling for. Unfortunately, this kind of council costs money.
The first case is that of Quitman County versus the state of Mississippi. The county claims to have too little funding in order to provide adequate legal council to all persons prosecuted by law. Currently the county has two lawyers assigned to handle the defense of all cases in the county. These two lawyers are paid a flat rate of $1,350 a month to handle all cases that come its way. This money is to be used to cover all trials, appeals, investigators, experts, all overhead costs and it is the personal salary of each individual lawyer. Needless to say, when these two lawyers are looking at their average of roughly 30 cases a year, the money runs a little thin. The constitution calls for all citizens to have the right to a fair trial and to be provided with legal council should they not be able to afford any on their own. This, unfortunately, is a little vague when attempting to determine the legal prowess of the appointed council. How good is good enough? In Quitman County's case, the lawyers just aren't taking the cake. Past defendants claim to feel as if they are merely being processed through the legal system, instead of getting their fair shot at justice. It can be very easy to say from a possible defendant's standpoint that you would want a hard working, experienced, and dedicated lawyer acting as your council. This scenario would be the ideal setting and it is what many local and state authorities are calling for. Unfortunately, this kind of council costs money.
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