Campus News

Speedy trial

Erica Hashimoto, an associate professor in the School of Law, talked about current problems in the judicial system of getting quality legal service for poor defendants in a story on National Public Radio.

Hashimoto told NPR the heavy caseloads for lawyers who defend indigent clients can have bad consequences for the defendants.

“There are a lot of stories of what are called meet ’em and plead ’em lawyers-lawyers who show up at the courthouse and represent the defendant for about five minutes, where they tell the client, ‘You have to plead guilty,’ ” she said.