With a public defender work stoppage in Massachusetts ongoing for more than a month now, we’re looking at the important role of bar advocates in the state’s justice system.
Everyone charged with a crime is constitutionally guaranteed court-appointed legal counsel if they cannot afford an attorney. Bar advocates — independent attorneys who represent about 80% of defendants unable to afford representation — stopped taking new cases in May as they call for a pay increase.
Joseph Bennett was convicted on a second-degree murder charge. Every day of the 22 years he spent in prison, he said he didn’t do it…