Why every accused person deserves an access to a free lawyer

It is required by the United States’ Constitution that everyone accused of a crime has access to a free and competent lawyer. No matter the convict, the crime, the place, all of those accused of a crime must be given access to a lawyer; even if the person accused of the crime cannot afford a lawyer, one will be assigned to them. This element of the United States’ criminal justice system is unquestionably one of the most fundamental and necessary; access to a free and competent lawyer is one of the characteristics of America’s criminal justice system that significantly contributes to confirming that the right person is sent to prison, not just the person who was accused, and to reducing the amount of people who are wrongfully convicted, and therefore wrongfully sent to prison. Without people accused of a crime being granted access to a free and competent lawyer, the United States’ criminal justice system would be even more backward than it currently is, and the country’s prisons would be even more overcrowded than they already are; also, a significant number of jobs would be lost if this Constitutional right was taken away.

There are a large number of crimes committed in the United States in which the wrong person is accused and convicted. It is easy for someone to be in the wrong place at the wrong time, and someone framing another person for a crime is not uncommon. In other words, it is not necessarily difficult to get the wrong person sent to prison and accused of a crime they did not commit, and it definitely is not a rare occurrence. Not everyone accused of a crime has the mental capability and/or stability, social skills, intelligence, or education to be able to represent themselves in a courtroom, especially if they are being wrongfully convicted and have little or no knowledge of the crime at hand or the people involved. It is not fair or humane to leave the accused left to defend themselves. An educated lawyer, trained in criminal justice, should be the one responsible for presenting the accused’s case in a professional manner, in order to do his or her best in preventing the client from being found guilty.

This can be directly related to prison populations in the United States. It is practically common knowledge that America’s prisons are far too overcrowded, and that the country has the highest inmate population in the world. It would be discouraging and difficult to imagine how much more crowded America’s prison facilities would be if the access to a lawyer was taken away, and all those accused of a crime were convicted. Defense lawyers are needed in order to help prevent further overcrowding in America’s prisons, which if occurred, would lead to another list of problems all on its own.

These defense lawyers are also needed in order to create jobs throughout the United States. With the removal of access to a free and competent lawyer, a significant number of Americans would now be unemployed.

A possible counterargument could state that if all those who are accused of a crime are convicted, without being given a lawyer, this could directly lead to lower crime rates, with the assumption that more people are less likely to commit crimes out of fear of being sent to prison automatically, with little or no chance of being able to plead not guilty and not be convicted.

However, this is not a strong claim considering that the given scenario is highly unlikely. It could possibly even lead to increased crime rates, giving criminals ensurance that if they make it appear as if they did not commit the crime, they possibly have a greater chance of not being convicted.

In conclusion, access to free and competent lawyers is more likely to contribute to lower prison populations/reduce prison overcrowding and a fairer criminal justice system. Giving everyone accused of a crime access to a free and competent lawyer is necessary in order to ensure that more people who are wrongfully accused are not wrongfully convicted, and in turn hopefully ensure that more people who are actually guilty of crimes are convicted. America needs this fundamental right guaranteed by the Constitution in order to prevent the country’s criminal justice and prison system from becoming even more corrupt and problematic than it already is.