Accusations of criminal wrongdoing don’t mean an impoverished defendant must face the courts alone in Miller County. Justice is supposed to be blind and equal regardless of a person’s ability to pay a lawyer. About 10 years ago, poor people accused of breaking the law in Miller County began receiving legal services from the Arkansas Public Defenders Commission. Today, the local office consists of two full- and three half-time lawyers who try to see that justice for the financially strapped and indigent is no different than it is for those defendants with money to hire their own att...

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