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Forced To Play And Forced To Pay: The Indigent Counsel Fee In Massachusetts As A Cost Of Being Charged With A Crime, Stanislaw Krawiecki
Forced To Play And Forced To Pay: The Indigent Counsel Fee In Massachusetts As A Cost Of Being Charged With A Crime, Stanislaw Krawiecki
University of Massachusetts Law Review
When indigent defendants in Massachusetts are charged with a crime and receive a court-appointed lawyer, they are also charged something else: a fee. This $150 fee is imposed on criminal defendants by the state as soon as they receive a constitutionally guaranteed "free" legal defense. The Article focuses on this inherent contradiction and identifies its far-reaching effects in undermining individuals’ constitutional protections. Massachusetts’s indigent counsel fee "chills" the right to counsel, creating a straightforward result for indigent individuals who are faced with a choice between paying for a "free" lawyer and not disclaiming their constitutional right to one. The deeper …