IndyLaw Net is an independent weblog written and managed by students and alumni of the Indiana University School of Law in Indianapolis, serving the IU Law-Indy community.

We welcome and encourage comments... Please check out ILN's commenting policy

Editor-in-chief, webmaster:
Lucas Sayre

Associate editors:
Karl Born

Contributors:
Karl Born
Brian Deiwert
Lucas Sayre
Kelly Scanlan
Nathan Van Sell

Links:

IU-Indy Law
Prof. Jeff Cooper
Daily Contentions
In the Agora
Commentary Track
Justin Gifford
Jelly Beans & Corduroy
Joe Delamater
Just Playin'
Obiter Dictum
Ryan Strup
The Sleepy Sage
Waiting for the Punchline
Myron's Mind
TV Law
Radio-N8

Other Law Students
IrishLaw
The Rattler
Ambivalent Imbroglio
John Branch
Phil Carter
De Novo
Paul Gutman
Kathryn Janeway
Jewish Buddha
The Kitchen Cabinet
Law Dork
letters from babylon
Letters of Marque
Mixtape Marathon
Notes from the Underground
Andrew Raff
Sua Sponte
Three Years of Hell
Unlearned Hand
Waddling Thunder

Legal Academics
Jack Balkin
Jeff Cooper
Rick Hasen
LawMeme
Lawrence Lessig
Eric Muller
Glenn Reynolds
D. Gordon Smith
Lawrence Solum
Peter Tillers
The Volokh Conspiracy
David Wagner
Tung Yin
White Collar Crime prof blog

Other Academic-types
Andrew R. Cline
Crooked Timber
Brad DeLong
Daniel W. Drezner
Joseph Duemer
Amitai Etzioni
Rebecca Goetz
Kieran Healy
Mark A. R. Kleiman
Brett Marston
History News Network
Michael Tinkler

Other Lawblogs
Program for Judicial Awareness
Howard J. Bashman
Stuart Buck
Janell Grenier
Sam Heldman
Tech Law Advisor
Denise Howell
Ken Lammers
Legal Reader
Math Class for Poets
Nathan Newman
Statutory Construction Zone
Indiana Law Blog
Timothy Sandefur
Fritz Schranck
Stop the Bleating
TalkLeft
Pejman Yousefzadeh

Legal News
The Jurist
CNN - Law
FindLaw
Law.com
lexisONE

Sapere aude - dare to be wise
Saturday, February 05, 2005
Helping defend those accused in capital cases
Posted 5:39 PM by Luke
No matter where one stands on the issue of capital punishment, all should agree that as long as it is legal, defendants deserve competent counsel in such cases. If an individual is put to death for a crime he or she did not commit, our legal system has failed in the worst possible way.

To this end, President Bush announced in his State of the Union speech a plan to finance training for defense counsels for capital cases. According to this NYTimes editorial:
According to sketchy details provided by the White House, Mr. Bush will ask Congress to spend $50 million over three years, mostly to underwrite efforts by bar associations and others to provide special training for lawyers, judges and prosecutors involved in capital cases. . .

Beyond expanded training, the new law contains well-written provisions that set standards for effective representation and provide large financial incentives for states to meet them. So all eyes are on Monday's budget - we hope it includes financing for these incentives, which will reveal Mr. Bush's true commitment to death penalty reform.

While certainly admirable in it's intentions, this proposal raises two concerns, as I see them. First: a federalism issue. How much influence should states have in the training and order of their own lawyers, and how much influence should the federal government have? Second: government bias. If the legal profession learns to "lean on" organizations which are financed by the government, for its training, do they give the government too much power to influence the legal profession by its choice of organizations and their positions on matters of law and ethics?

While I raise these issues, I do not purport to have sufficient knowledge to take a stand on either.

As seen in the
National Jurist
and on
FOXNews

Indianapolis Help Wanted




Archives:
August 2003
September 2003
October 2003
November 2003
December 2003
January 2004
February 2004
March 2004
April 2004
May 2004
June 2004
July 2004
August 2004
September 2004
October 2004
November 2004
December 2004
January 2005
February 2005
March 2005
April 2005
May 2005
June 2005
July 2005
August 2005
September 2005
October 2005
November 2005
December 2005
January 2006
February 2006
March 2006
April 2006
May 2006
June 2006
July 2006
August 2006
September 2006
November 2006
December 2006
January 2007
February 2007
April 2007
May 2007
March 2010






Weblog Commenting by HaloScan.com