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Comment by robinjfisher | Hacker News Reader

> but in the UK these people would have been unable to get a public defender

Absolutely not the case. If one cannot afford a solicitor one will be appointed.

For a crown court, anyone with an adjusted household income over £22345 is expected to pay in part. Anyone with a household income (unadjusted) over £37500 gets no help. You can also be caught if you have more than about 30k in assets (including equity in your home so anyone who owns in the southeast is screwed).

https://www.gov.uk/guidance/criminal-legal-aid-means-testing

I only discovered this 2y ago when I was arrested. My solicitor in the police station explained he was free but only on that day. I'd have to pay in advance if the police choose to prosecute (they didn't, I was released without charge).

A lot of people don't realise how expensive it is to be innocent in the UK sadly.

Quite - the criminal justice system is woefully underfunded and COVID has only exacerbated the problem. The means testing leaves many people facing no choice but to plead guilty or risk bankruptcy.

This book is a chilling insight into the state of criminal justice: https://www.amazon.co.uk/Secret-Barrister-Stories-Law-Broken...

The only mitigating factor is that unlike the US the UK also massively underfunds prosecutions

https://thesecretbarrister.com/

One thing I've never understood about the US is why both sides aren't funded equally. That seems a very core part of a fair trial being "fair" imho.

Agree!

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