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Hype alert: A trend in search of solid proof

By Mark Obbie

Donna Leinwand and her editors should have looked a little more closely at the headline and lede of this USA Today story, which race beyond the evidence that she has dug up. Headlined (at least online) "Public Defenders Reject New  Cases," the story starts: She quotes an official from a criminal-defense advocacy group as saying that she "has heard from public defenders in more than a half-dozen states who are considering challenging their growing caseloads in court." That's a thin reed to support the second sentence of the lede, and of course it's not the same to say they're refusing to do something if they merely ask for a court to authorize the move for future case assignments. Then Leinwand provides three examples (several? barely) where it's happened so far, except in two of the three cases the public defenders have gone to court rather than acted preemptively. Only one is characterized as having actively refused cases. So the story falls short of being literally true, much less supporting the gist, which is that this is a trend.

Full post as published by Lawbeat on September 11, 2008 (boomark / email).