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Report says a second Trump term would add 4 billion tons of climate pollution; Trump predicts a bloodbath for the country if he is defeated in November's election; Nevada leaders discuss future of IVF, abortion in the Silver State; and anglers seek trawler buffer zone as Atlantic herring stock declines.

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The SCOTUS weighs government influence on social media, and who groups like the NRA can do business with. Biden signs an executive order to advance women's health research and the White House tells Israel it's responsible for the Gaza humanitarian crisis.

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Midwest regenerative farmers are rethinking chicken production, Medicare Advantage is squeezing the finances of rural hospitals and California's extreme swing from floods to drought has some thinking it's time to turn rural farm parcels into floodplains.

Last Minute Push to Stop Public Defender Bill

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Thursday, April 4, 2013   

ANNAPOLIS, Md. - A Maryland Senate committee is poised to vote on a bill as early as today that would change how people with low incomes are represented by public defenders. The bill would end the representation after a bail hearing and require the defendant to re-apply for help.

Joanna Diamond, public policy associate with ACLU of Maryland, said the bill violates a person's constitutional right to counsel.

"In order to effectively represent a criminal defendant, you need continuity of that representation. Without continuity, it is ineffective," she said.

The legislation would especially threaten the rights of minorities because of wide racial disparities in who is arrested and detained in Maryland, she added.

The General Assembly just passed a law last year that required the Office of the Public Defender to provide representation at bail hearings.

"This basically reverses the progress that the state has made to deliver defense services to indigent Marylanders who are accused of a crime," Diamond said.

Ironically, the law is expected to require more staffing to process the additional applications it calls for. An analysis by the Department of Legislative Services said the Office of the Public Defender is on pace to provide about 78,000 bail reviews a year.

The legislation is available at http://mgaleg.maryland.gov.





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