Banner Graphic, Volume 14, Number 74, Greencastle, Putnam County, 1 December 1983 — Page 7
Public defenders: Personal conflicts in a role almost always misunderstood
By LISA DeNIKE Hie Baltimore Evening Sun BALTIMORE-When public defender James S. Kunen won his first murder trial, he felt both elated and sick to his stomach. His client had confessed to shooting a man with a .38, leaving him to die in the lobby of an office building. “I had gotten away with murder. Murder!" said Kunen. “That’s one of the 10 Commandments, for God’s sake. It put me into emotional turmoil-my stomach hurt, I couldn’t sleep-but I would have felt worse if I had lost. I had won the case by showing that the victim was a miserable scumbag who deserved to die and by showing it was a case of self-defense.” EACH DAY, PUBLIC DEFENDERS like Kunen defend indigent people accused of murder, rape, assault, armed robbery, prostitution, drug dealing and a myriad of other charges. And if the task isn’t demanding enough, public defenders face a workload that could cause a private practice attorney to flinch. Carl Sacks, an assistant public defender in Baltimore, handles 30 to 40 cases at any one time. As in Kunen’s case, the defenders often do not know whether their clients really killed or raped or burglarized or sold heroin to children. Often, their clients will not trust them enough to tell the truth because they see the defenders as part of the bureaucracy that is trying to put them behind bars. None of that matters to the defender. Winning and protecting
opinion
LARRY GIBBS Publisher
Spokesmen for elderly warn politicians against cuts in Medicare benefits
By Stephen E. Nordlinger (c) 1983 The Baltimore Sun WASHINGTON Two top spokesmen for the nation’s elderly Wednesday strongly opposed cutbacks in Medicare benefits to stave off the insolvency of the system predicted by 1990. Wilbur J. Cohen, an author of the Medicare program in the Johnson administration, favored an income tax surcharge earmarked for Medicare and warned that there would be political retribution against congressmen backing benefit reductions. “This is a political question, not an economic question,” Cohen told a congressionally sponsored conference on Medicare. He noted that “60 to 80 per cent of the elderly vote compared to 25 per cent of younger people’ ’ on whom the surcharge would primarily fall. But Cohen, who played a leading role in minimizing Social Security benefit cuts this year, argued that “everyone would be willing to pay the tax because they don’t know their probable risk of getting sick.” Robert M. Ball, former head of the Social Security administration and another leader of this year’s fight against major Social Security benefit cuts, suggested the Medicare deficit had been exaggerated and that “we should hold the present policy” for beneficiaries. Cohen and Ball spoke at the wind-up session of a two-day conference on Medicare sponsored by the House Ways and Means Committee, the Congressional Budget Office and the Library of Congress’s Congressional Research Service. The conference was described as “the first step” in trying to devise a solution to avoid Medicare bankrupcy.
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Jeane Kirkpatrick: The only woman who could today be a serious possibility for president
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JIANE KIRKPATRICK
the client from the state are the important things. They are the public defender’s calling, constantly challenging, often frustrating and almost always misunderstood by the public. So misunderstood that each day public defenders such as Kunen are confronted by angry questions from fearful citizens: How can they defend and try to free someone who may be guilty of heinous crimes? How do they feel if their client commits the same crimes or worse upon acquittal or probation? THEY DO HAVE ANSWERS. To understand them, you have to understand that legal ethics require an attorney to do everything short of lying or manufacturing evidence to protect his client’s right to a fair trial. Guarding those rights is the public defender’s job, and if doing so allows some criminals to go free, the defender says, well, that’s a small price to pay; the system may not be perfect, but it’s the system. Besides, they contend that most of those who get off are legitimately innocent. “I don’t want a murderer put back out on the street any more than you do,” said assistant public defender Sacks. “But it is my job to try to put him there. One time a guy I represented on an armed robbery charge-a guy I got acquitted though I wasn’t sure if he did or did not do it-was later charged with murder. I didn’t laugh that off, I’ll tell you. “That is why my personal ethics sometimes come into conflict with my professional ones. But I still have to do my job and
ERICBERNSEE Managing Editor
The CBO estimates that the system faces a deficit of $9 billion in 1990, rising to a cumulative deficit of $250 billion by 1995. But the CBO analysis said the deficit in the hospital trust fund could be held to $93 billion in 1995 by stringent controls over hospital costs. Ball and other Medicare authorities proposed raising taxes on cigarettes and alcohol as one means of closing this more modest gap. But there were also recommendations designed to lower doctor and hospital costs. One of them, widely supported at the conference, would radically alter the system for reimbursing doctors treating hospital patients. The physicians would have to accept fees set by the federal government and could not bill patients for any additional amounts. One of the major reform plans, presented by Karen Davis and Diane Rowland of the Johns Hopkins University, would merge both the hospital and physician parts of Medicare to provide greater stability to the program. The package would be financed by the present payroll tax and general revenues combined with a new premium paid by Medicare beneficiaries. The premium, which would be based on a beneficiary’s income, would average $330 a year and raise about S2O billion by 1995. A study by the congressional Office of Technology Assessment suggested that the government consider the “costeffectiveness” of new medical technologies in deciding which Medicare should pay for. At present, the government requires only that they be safe and reasonable.
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By WILLIAM SAFIRE c. 1983 N.Y. Times News Service WASHINGTON Everybody knows that President Reagan is going to run again. Paul Laxalt makes no bones about it: it’s all over but the formal announcement, which is being held back only to build suspense. Republican National Committee cameramen take positions at the “front” in South Korea to film the khaki-clad candidate glaring aross the DMZ for a film to be shown at the convention. It’s all over but the declaring. And yet, and yet. If the oddsmakers are laying 3 to 1, that means there is a 25 percent chance Reagan will surprise his political dependents and perhaps himself with a decision around State of the Union time in January to retire undefeated. That is not a likelihood to bet the family savings on, but such a possibility deserves a flier of speculation.
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üblic perceptions differ from reality
Economic illiteracy yields dire consequence
By RICHARD L. LESHER President, U.S. Chamber of Commerce WASHINGTON--Grab pen and paper. It is time for a pop quiz. After subtracting federal, state and local taxes, how much profit do you think the average manufacturing company earns as a percentage of sales? If a company sells $1 worth of goods or services, is the aftertax profit: 50 cents; 20 cents; 5 cents? Now, the same question for oil companies, auto manufacturers, electric utilities and insurance companies. OKAY, HAND IN YOUR PAPERS and compare your estimates with the answers given in a recent poll by Opinion Research Corporation which asked the same questions. And then let’s compare those poll results with the facts. The over 1,000 adults responding to the telephone poll guessed that the average manufacturer earns 37 per cent after-tax profit on each dollar of sales. In reality af-ter-tax profits are roughly one-tenth of that figure. Those questioned believed that the big oil companies must be pulling down the big bucks. They guessed that average aftertax profits for oil companies at 60 per cent of sales. Ralph Nader’s histrionics notwithstanding, the true figure is 4.3 per cent. (Oil company stockholders wish that Ralph Nader was right on this one.) THE AUTO INDUSTRY? PoU respondents guessed their profits at 41 per cent of
George Bush, it is widely assumed, would become the party’s designated hitter. Widely known, he would be the instant front-runner. He has been keeping a loyally low profile so long he must have a permanent backache; his old campaign manager runs the White House staff But as Ronald Reagan proved in 1980, once George Bush loses “the Big Mo” of momentum, the former everything becomes vulnerable to right-wing suspicions that he is a closet moderate. If, as is likely, the retiring president did not try to dictate the convention choice, such failure to endorse would be seen as a rejection. Howard Baker would plunge in, this time belching smoke to prove he has the requisite fire raging in his belly. He would resign his post of majority leader and hit the campaign trail with zest, his PAC’s formed and cracker barrel at the ready. As
make sure that person is given a fair trial; I have to protect his rights.” NORMAN K. YANKELLOW. public defender for Baltimore, agrees; “It is not our duty to decide if this person is a killer or a robber. It is merely our obligation to make sure the state does not run roughshod, throwing people in jail without proving they are guilty. The question is not ‘How can you defend that person who may be a murderer?’ The question is really ‘How can I not?”’ And if the client is, indeed, a killer or rapist, how then does a public defender justify his calling? “I have no problem with putting an obviously guilty client on the stand,” said Howard Margulies, assistant defender for Baltimore. "I have no qualms because I think it is allowed by the American Bar Association standards,” But Kunen, who recently retired from the defender service to write a book called “How Can You Defend Those People? The Making of a Criminal Lawyer,” believes that defenders often go further than the ABA would allow. “ULTIMATELY, YOU PAY attention to how far you can go without getting caught. There is a fine line between jogging a client’s memory and coaching him. I’m afraid I probably crossed that line before. It is a dirty little secret of the profession.” Caught up in the drama and excitement of a trial, a defender’s
Richard Lesher
sales. Detroit, I’m sure, appreciates this vote of confidence, but automakers actually lost money last year. The gong also sounds for our 1,000 poll respondents who guessed that electric utilities were racking up profits of 48 per cent of sales. They earned 11.2 per cent. The guess of 55 per cent profits for insurance companies was off by a factor of eight. Insurance company profits were 7 per cent of sales. The gap between perception and reality of corporate profit levels raises three questions. How did this misperception arise? Should we be concerned by it? And, if we are concerned, what can we do to correct it? ADDRESSING THE second question first, the answer is a resounding yes. We should be alarmed at this shocking level of economic illiteracy, for bad information leads to bad economic policy. It is a lot
the underdog but firebellied centrist, Baker would become the media favorite, splitting the Bush moderate vote in the Republican primaries. That vote would be further fractionated by Bob Dole, who would campaign against the Reagan vice president on the deficit issue, emerging as Mr. Responsible, with much Democratic respect and little Republican chance. In that scenario, Rep. Jack Kemp is a good long-shot bet to emerge the upset winner. As articulate hawk and true-believing tax cutter, he would appeal to primary voters; as the man who has done most for Republicans on the rubber-chicken circuit, he would have the most i.o.u.’s at the Dallas convention. And he would have the whole Reagan right in his back pocket. But wait what is that cloud, no bigger than a man’s hand, on the horizon? It is neither a cloud nor a man’s hand: the unspoken name is Ambassador Jeane Kirk-
ego, his desire to win, sometimes comes in conflict with his ethics. “I want to win. I want to win real bad,” Sacks said. “I take a case and do what is fair to win it, but I always want to win. That feeling is constantly there, egging me on. ” Compassion for the client also drives the defender. “Emotionally, you become submerged in the contest aspect; you want to win for ego. But you also want to win for this human being who looks at you and says ‘Please, please help me.’ It triggers a feeling of responsibility in you to protect that person, no matter who he is,” Kunen explained. “To me, the victim is a name on a piece of paper. ’ ’ TOM SAUNDERS, AN ASSISTANT public defender on the Death Penalty Task Force, feels a particular sense of personal responsibility when he defends a client. His job is to help convicted criminals avoid the death sentence. “No matter how heinous, how brutal the crime, I almost literally stand between this person and the gallows,” Saunders explained. “It is a very hard thing to live with; it takes a tremendous personal toll on you. ” Saunders remembers losing a case that resulted in the sentence of death for his client. “I kept asking myself: If only I had worked harder, longer, better, if only I had argued better, spoke differently, wore a different tie, would I have won?”
easier for politicians to rail against the “obscene protits” of oil companies and demand higher taxes if the voters believe that present profits are 60 per cent of sales. A tax hike of i 0 per cent of sales would sound reasonable, when in reality it would wipe out the profits of the oil companies and drive them into bankruptcy. The same scenario holds for other industries. Why are we so misinformed about business profits? I would suggest two contributing factors. Both politicians and union leaders find it to their advantage to exaggerate profit levels and can often be found in front of television cameras pushing untrue, yet headline-making statements. Too often politicians look at business not as the engine of economic growth but as the vulnerable target for new taxes. Overstating profits makes such tax hikes popular. Union leaders couple demands for higher wage increases with feigned outrage about unconscionably high profits. You have plenty of money, the argument runs, give us some of it. Recently the chickens have come to roost for those union bosses in the auto and steel industries as they were just beginning to learn that low levels of earning lead not to higher pay for workers but to plant closings and fewer jobs. BUSINESSMEN AND WOMEN must also shoulder some of the responsibility for these exaggerated estimates of corporate profits. Too often, they highlight the
Patrick, the hottest hawk on the Republican lecture trail, the most respected neoconservative voice on the Sunday panel shows, and the only woman who could today be considered as a serious possibility for president of the United States not just as a theoretical “woman candidate" but as a potential president. Pause a moment to get over the shock. Then put yourself in the snows of New Hampshire, with no candidate really organized after the Reagan Shock, and consider how you would like to be a candidate in a field of four males running against the tough-minded, articulate Mrs. Kirkpatrick. Which candidate would immediately become the focus of interest in the televised debates? Who would appeal to party voters who have shown themselves willing to make a dramatic display of their primary vote? Ask any pol or pollster: it would be tough to deny Jeane
December 1,1983, The Putnam County Banner-Graphic
dramatic growth of profits during a recovery, boasting that earnings are up, say 400 per cent, without explaining that this growth is based on depressed earnings during a recession. Understandably, most companies downplay falling profits and losses. Lastly, we come to the question of what the business community can do to bring down the high level of misinformation on corporate earnings. I am not going to recommend some expensive education campaign at this point, but rather suggest some small steps that businessmen and women can take. Start with your own family. If the over 16 million Americans who run businesses on a full-time or part-time basis simply discussed the economic facts of life with their children over dinner the ignorance level would drop sharply overnight. SCHOOLS COULD INVITE local businessmen and women into the classrooms to discuss the role and size of profits in the business world. Businessmen and women could also reach out to civic groups, church groups or sit down with their congressmen when they visit the district. Small steps, but important. The debate over economic policy affects the future of all Americans and we cannot allow this debate to continue surrounded by the amount of misinformation revealed in this recent poll.
Kirkpatrick 30 percent of the vote, enough to win in most early primaries. She would have grave drawbacks as a candidate. She is a registered Democrat (so was Reagan), and worse, she is a professor (so was Woodrow Wilson). But her very appearance in a Republican race would virtually assure her the vice presidential nomination, and would shatter the Democratic gender-gappers’ dreams of victory. And who knows ... Mrs. Kirkpatrick reacts to such esoteric surmise with a laugh and a “Don’t be silly.” Kemp followers frown thoughtfully; the Bush White House pretenders turn mauve with apoplexy. Forget it; unthinkable; Reagan’s the candidate, the question won’t even come up. Damnable mischief-making. There won’t be any surprises next year. Shut up ' and go back to sleep.
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