On television and in the movies, police officers read people their Miranda rights and tell them they will be provided a lawyer if they cannot afford one. But in reality, legal representation is rarely free. The Supreme Court has found the Constitution guarantees the right to counsel but allows states, in most cases, to try to recoup the cost. More than 40 do so, according to a 2022 report by the National Legal Aid and Defender Association.

Iowa takes these efforts to the extremes, an investigation by The Marshall Project found. Not only does Iowa impose some of the highest fees in the nation — affecting tens of thousands of people each year — it also charges poor people for legal aid even if they are acquitted or the cases against them are dropped.

Archived at https://web.archive.org/web/20240212131540/https://www.themarshallproject.org/2024/02/12/miranda-rights-indigent-defense-iowa

  • AdamEatsAss@lemmy.world
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    9 months ago

    Even more messed up is pay-to-stay prisons in the “land of the free”. American culture loves to be “tough” on crime, then anyone who supports helping those found guilty or accused is immediately labeled as a criminal as well, because “why would you want to help a convict unless you’re one too?”

    • SinningStromgald@lemmy.world
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      9 months ago

      The point of the US prison system is to keep as many people as possible incarcerated as long as possible or as often as possible. We don’t want to reform them or reintegrate them into society.

      • Lem Jukes@lemm.ee
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        9 months ago

        We had to replace slavery with somethi…. Well… still slavery but with some extra steps.

        • Meowoem@sh.itjust.works
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          9 months ago

          I wonder if human labour becoming worthless due to automation will result in prison reform or if it’s more sinister and actually it’s pretty much just a scam to get government money into the hands of private businesses via lucrative contracts

      • grue@lemmy.world
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        9 months ago

        Well yeah, because if we let them out we can’t exploit them as slave labor anymore.

    • unalivejoy@lemm.ee
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      9 months ago

      I’m not a criminal now, but I might be one day. Then people like me better watch out!

      • AdamEatsAss@lemmy.world
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        9 months ago

        You’re not formatted correctly…it looks correct on my end. This is how I do it [Text] (link)

        • gobills@lemm.ee
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          9 months ago

          Yo no one is listening to you, I even looked at your comment and was like na thats a broke link. Then i realized its not the link to the article thats wrong its that you copied another link from the page when you posted the article snippet. I think for some it is only showing your comment i text format not as the link->text format.

          TLDR: OP aint crazy yall are the crazy ones lol