Women Criminal Defense Attorneys: Our Legal System Needs a Priority Check

Last month, the Second Circuit upheld Raj Rajaratnam’s conviction and sentence.  This case marked the first time a wiretap had been used in an insider trading case, but unfortunately after this ruling we can expect to see the use of this kind of “evidence of last resort” where we have traditionally never seen it.   Much of the appeal centered on the Franks issue relating to the application for wiretap. It is a disappointing ruling and there is speculation as to whether Rajaratnam will appeal to the Supreme Court - an interesting question in light of reports that Rajaratnam has already spent over $40 million dollars on his defense.  His appeal has been handled so far by Supreme Court veteran Patricia Millett.  Rajaratnam was sentenced to 11 years in prison.

Also recently, Jeffrey Skilling, the Enron Executive that was sentenced to over 24 years, just struck a deal with the Government to jointly recommend a reduction of his sentence to 14 years. The District Court Judge in Houston, Texas accepted the recommendation in mid-June and Skilling successfully shaved off 10 years of his original sentence.  One of the reasons for the joint agreement was to end the long, protracted legal fight that went up to the Supreme Court and would have required the Judge to resentence Skilling to a lower sentence, but would have left his appellate rights intact. The agreement provided that Skilling drop all pending and future appeals and forfeit an additional $40 million dollars to the Government.  Skilling got the largest sentence of anyone charged in relation to the Enron case and one of the largest white-collar sentences ever issued at the time.  Unfortunately, I don’t think we could still say that today, as sentences in white-collar cases are continuing to increase.

These are just two recent examples of the resources and money wasted on non-violent prosecutions in this country.  Obviously I am not arguing that those guilty of white-collar offenses should not be punished. But the amount of money and resources that are spent on prosecuting them, defending them, and then providing for their incarceration for years on end doesn’t make any sense - especially when we are facing a financial crisis in our legal system.  And the crisis continues to worsen, as federal public defenders offices are facing even more cuts in 2014. These cuts will cripple most of the defenders offices around the country.   Our priorities are clearly askew when we are spending millions on the prosecution of financial crimes, yet don’t have the budget to provide lawyers to clients that can’t afford them.  Right to counsel has been one of the fundamental principles that sets our legal system apart and we are at serious risk of losing this right.

The United States Sentencing Commission has held conferences and issued reports urging Courts to consider alternative sentences to incarceration in certain circumstances, including white-collar non violent offenses.  There are many reasons why this makes good sense.  First, it is humane to consider an alternative to a long sentence in a financial or white-collar crime.  Second, and most importantly, our system simply can’t support these costly prosecutions and incarcerations any longer.  Something has to give, and it shouldn’t be the rights of low-income defendants.