Fairness

        Abdulmutallab is being represented by attorney Miriam L.Siefer (Federal Defender Office: with 22 attorneys, four investigators and 11 support staff under the direction of Chief Defender Miriam L. Seifer, the Federal Defender office represents indigent clients in all federal courts for the Easter District of Michigan, including Detroit, Ann Arbor, Flint and Bay City.). I firmly believe that any defendant should have the best representation possible—and it should be aggressive and competent. Whether Abudulmutallab should have been held as an enemy combatant or indicted on criminal charges is not the thought here. (However, read WSJ: “The Ramzi Yousef Standard,” http://tinyurl.com/y8dhxul, has an interesting take on that question.) I wonder about fairness.
        After Hurricane Katrina, the problems with the public defender’s office in New Orleans made national news: vastly over worked attorneys, too many clients per attorney, minimal resources, etc. Despite the headlines, what happened? Not much; who cares? Even without a hurricane to exacerbate the problem, most cities don’t provide good public defenders . . . certainly not like the representation many of the Guantanamo Bay detainees and terrorists have gotten.
        I don’t begrudge Abdulmutallab’s defense, or anyone else’s, but I wonder if we shouldn’t express concern for the thousands of defendants who get lost in the system for want of good counsel.