Solutions to Bad Lawyering? Tough Direction in One State, Deploying Marketplace in Another

The New York Times' Adam Liptak writes on the difficulties in protecting the constitutional right to have counsel paid for in criminal cases when you can't afford your own lawyer. For example, in Washington, a federal judge has found two cities violated the constitutional right to counsel by having lawyers handle 500 cases at a time. The judge has imposed a federal monitor to improve the situation. In Texas, a pilot program is starting to allow defendants to pick their own lawyers among a pool of qualified counsel.