Re: American System of Injustic
Read under FIRST APPEARANCE:
“If you are financially unable to hire your own lawyer, the judge will ask you to fill out a financial form and may charge you a fee of $40. The judge will then decide if you qualify for the services of the Public Defender’s Office. Unless you are acquitted or your charge is dismissed, the services of the Public Defender are not free. If you are sentenced, the court can make payment of an attorney’s fee a condition of your sentence, or the court can impose a lien in the public record for these services.”
Article pertains to Florida, where, according to this article, public defenders must have passed bar; but that’s not the case in many other states.