It’s bad enough that my hometown county keeps popping up in my news reader in stories about missing ballot boxes and voting irregularities, but today it was even higher on the list of major news stories. This time it involves a case before the Supreme Court. Yes, that Supreme Court.

Monday the high court will again hear arguments regarding how we treat accused criminals in the Lone Star State. This time the focus isn’t on death row, but on an earlier stage of the justice system.

The question is: When are we required to give lawyers to poor people?

You might have thought it was when we take away their freedom and bring them before a judge. Silly you.

I hope the Court finds that a person’s right to legal representation begins when they first enter the legal system. I thought it did, but lo and behold, the State of Texas doesn’t seem to think standing before a judge after you have been arrested to be an “adversary judicial proceeding” requiring legal representation.

Learn something new every day. Now I know that since I can’t afford to get my own lawyer, the Texas legal system will drag it’s feet about appointing me one, because all that stuff that happens before the prosecution actually starts building their case is apparently totally unimportant. Though it’s not like I didn’t already know that if I ever got arrested and needed a lawyer I was going to get screwed anyway. I just thought I had the right to ask for one and be ignored much earlier in the process.

Since I am outing what county I originally hail from, I might as well point you to a story about the election scandal as well and get the embarrassment over all at one go. :)