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Show " ; 4A . k SsajttaS' Tuesday August 7, 2001 Staff column U.S. nmTMDMHBS,U scales of justice tilt in favor of rich By JACKIE ANDERSON .Plate sin with gold, And the strong lance of justice hurtless breaks; Arm it iii rags, a pygmys straw dotti pierce it" . ! . . Wing Leaf, Shakespeare) is thatthe door. You open it to vestigator enter your. apartment waving a ranf in your face. . in- . . . . ' ' . defendant is paid far less than he or she.cduld. make doing any other type of legal work arid is denied the resources necessary for a full inveslawyer would represent you well? tigation and the retention of necessaiy expert Although all classes commit crime, the.poor experience, higher rates of arrest, criminal 'witnesses. .charges convictions, long prison sentences and .; : Yet it is the defendant who pays with his orher denial of parole. The winnowing process ensures : life or liberty ter the lawyer's ignorance of the that most rich criminals never see the inside of a law or failure to.present critical evidence,' cites ' five, uniformed, arnied policemen and one ; Do you qualify for a public defender?. Do you feel confident that a court-appoint- . ' day at work. .. There is a knock at your for your clients. Even then, the subject of conversation is not tiie facts of the case,. but Strategies, according to Jonathon Casper, Crimi-natJustice- - LawandMitjci; A. lawyer assigned to represent an indigent . . . stated Bright viction review,1 One study found that most public defenders spend an average of five to 10 minutes with their . even to drink a beer;, all prior to trial all because of the accusation of one vindictive person. ; Do you haye$5,000 to retain the.servkies of a criminal attorney, plus the $120 hourly tee? Imagine that you have just awakened. You are your tioxer shorts preparing to get ready Still in avenues of post-co- n American legal, system ap- -. pears to be Neither equal nor just : . ; An innocent person can spend time in jail, lose property,, a'job, the freedom to travef arid loved one, : . .. unnwreranjpMta ' war-- , are told that you are being placed under arrest for felony theft You are allowed to put on your shoes and then hauled to jail in handcuffs and shackles. You prison, while overflowing them with the poor; Despite the constitutional right to counsel You have been. a citizen all your . established more than. 40 years ago, many states life and have never stolen anything since your have yet to provide capable lawyers to represent the accused, and the resources necessary to conmom made yoo return the penny bubble gum you duct investigations and present a defense, points-ou- t lifted from the store when you were. 5 years old. ; But suddenly your life has been turned upside Stephen Bright. down because of a single complaint filed by a Bright is the author of the. Annual Survey of American Law, New York University School of Law. spumed lover. , Bright r Public defenders wjn dismissals or acquit-- ; 17 percent of their cases,, compared to. 18 percent for assigned attorneys, and 36 percent for privately hired counsel, stated Dallin Oaks. and Warren Lehman o Law and Order; The Sca les . . . tals in . of justice. . ' ", . ; , . . The situation becomes even, worse in death . penalty cases. . Because of the . extreme, poverty f . the huge expense of trying a prolonged capital case, few lawyers of pretrial investigation. Be or she may receive only.; established merit are willing to take them. The most fundamental reason for the poor perfunctory representation - sometimes nothing : more than hurried conversations with a court -quality or absence of legal services for the poor in the criminal justice system is the refusal of appointed lawyer outside the. courtroom or even in open court before entering a guilty plea or governments to allocate sufficient funds for in- -, digenf defense programs, said Bright going to trial. The poor person who is wrongfully exin. convicted may face years prison or even Legislatures in many states haye failed to to ecution, without any legal assistance pursue (Continued on page SAj of most of the defendants, and A poor person may be without counsel when bail is set or denied and during critical times for It's funny how you can assume something, but not really know it until you experience it first hand.. . . Something that I have assumed, inspite of the patriotic propaganda that insists hie American legal system the best in the world, is, like most things in the United States, it depends on how much money one has. ly - Something that now know firsthand, because the above scenario is currently happening to my I ' Letters Editor: The decision by the Western Boys Baseball Association (WBBA) board of directors this year in creating a separate region for the leagues in Carbon and Emery proved to be very beneficial, in light of the recent tournaments hosted by the Northern Heights league in Price. : With the flexibility of a sepa- rate region, two excellent tournaments were staged in the major and minor league catego- Calls on government to open head gate ans who . . . . speaking his mind, believing his audience will respond to the candor. During one of his final newscasts, Beale im. plores his viewers to declare:. Tm a human be- -, . to stop providingwater to 90 percent of toe land in the basin. Instead, the federal officials favor toe sucker fish in toe tipper Klamath Lake and coho salmon in toe Klamath River. . . Lately, farmers in the Klamath Basin on toe . Oregon and California borders have been taking . : die in the sum . . Beales advice,. The farmers are opening their windows and their mouths and toe noise is deaf--' ' , The economic losses range from $250 million to $400 million. . , : : : . toe canal. . . 't.; .. of toe 240,000 currently affected, on this day they notched a symbolic battlefield win in a war that to date, they have mostly lost ' Many people from that hot afternoon have remained at toe site, erecting a temporary camp, sending sometimes hourly updates via the Internet to supporters all over the country. .. The supporters sing hymns, hear speeches and the flow of water every time U,S. V marshals close it down. ; , Recently, a good calvary arrived Scofield chief acknowledges fire fighting efforts . ' Editor: I would like to acknowledge, the members of the Scofield, . V- . , Armed with bolt cutters farmers and their sup-- . Dont call toe editor. That is not a misprint 'O Federal government bureaucrats have misused ; enjng. .;'toe' mostly dysfunctional Endangered Species Act ..But where are the rest of us? ; (ESA) to supersede all other obligations of the . The Klamath project formed between the two " Klamath project neighboring states m 19D2,; is.home to approxiThe federal bureaucrats have determined that, on the. scene. More than 100 horses and riders mately 1,400 farms and ranches; ; .. -. in the toe the of. detwo species of fish in question have rights . appeared above a neartty ridge, .most carrying farmers Many region are scendants of World War i and World War II Veter- -. greater than of toe individuals whose bands have 5A) (Continued on ' officers; storekeepers, and workers in this league for a job well done. Walt Borla Regional WBBA director The officers of the Northern Heights league are to be implemented for the manner in which these tournaments were Conducted! ; .Each team in the minoT , league meet had the privilege of playing five games. In themajors, each team had a minimum of three games depending upon their won or loss record.: I believe that the president of Northern Heights, Chris Nelson, should be recognized for his efforts.. Andtoavoid the risk of leav . porters pried open toe stubborn head gates and cheered as five to 10 cuhic feet of water per second escaped government control. Though not enough to save even a single acre -. ers with no other source of water have been forced to sell off cattle and watch as pastures and hay of . . Family farms are deteriorating, literally blowing away, while precious water is held back. Farm- ries.' national media attention, residents of the devastated Klamath. Basin gathered on July 4 for a States Bureau of Reclamation's recent decision ing... My life has value," So I want you to get up now. I want all of you to get up out of your chairs! I want you to get up right now and go to fee window, open it and stick, your head out and yell, Tm as mad as hell and I'm not going to take this anymore,'" continues Finch's character. Network is simply one of toe greatest movie quotes of all time, as far as I am concerned. -- Congress has spoken in the plainest Of words, making it abundantly clear that toe balance has been struck in favor of affording en' dangered species toe hjghest of priorities, Judge Aiken wrote in her decision. Fed up but by slowly building oats,-potatoe- anchor Howard Beale. Beale, in the final days of a distinguished career, determines to leave in a blaze of glory by . worked toe land for generations, Outraged residents filed suit against toe U.S. Bureau of Reclamation, But ti.S .. District Judge Ann Aiken ruled that toe bureau had acted legally. : .from toe federal government ' Lured to toe area in part by guaranteed water rights, farmers created a $30Q million dollar market for crops including barley, . wheat and sugar beets. ' Now; after 99 summers of growth, on fields worked by some of toe finest men and women America has te offer, small communities in toe region have been reduced to dust bowls. .. .. , . The situation is a direct result of toe United Institute In the 1976 Oscar winning film NetWork, actor Peter Finch plays aging television news ; won toe right to homestead in the basin editor ing put deserving names, lean only acknowledge.all the other Applauds WBBA decision to create separate local region Guest column By JASON WRIGHT Frontiers of Freedom to the volunteer fire department for-aoutstanding job of putting out a fire at the Bolotas Boat. Camp north of Scofield on the afternoon of July .29, One summer home was de- -. strayed by the fire and another severely, damaged in connection with the incident.! 1 would also like to acknowledge, the Price, Helper and Wellington fire departments for their help in. keeping the fire from spreading tiiroughoutthe . area.. It's great to know that the surrounding communities in Carbon County are there and willing to. help in our time of . need.- Keith Larsen, chief Scofield fire department s . Letters; to the editor should focus on public; en . . : j . page . issues rather than private personalities or f entities. All submissions must be verified I prior to publication. The paper reserves the d right to edit letters not only to satisfy space I constraints, but potential liability concerns. The voice of Carbon County since 1892 AD MINISTRATION ' Publisher , Kevin Aihby Addfew: 845 East Main, Price, Utah. Telephone.' (435) 637-073- Fax: advertising Saks Classifieds, lmda . 10 a.m, far Tuesday's publication arid Wednesday ' at 10 a.m. for Thursday publication. ; . Subscription ratec 50 cents per copy, S37 per year in Carbon and Emery counties, S40 in Utah and $54 outside of Utah per yearhymaiL ' editorial . Editor Lynnda Johnson . Reporter Jackie Anderson Rjcbard Shan . Publication Na (USPS ismed a week at Price, Utah. 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