"Examining flat-fee systems for indigent defense"

From Doug Berman at Sentencing Law and Policy Blog, summarizing a piece from Stateline.org. In part:

Flat-fee contracting for indigent defense is used in more than a dozen states around the country. Fixed-rate contracts negotiated by governments with private attorneys are a common way for counties and states to save money in hard fiscal times.  But they have drawn criticism from a variety of quarters.  Nevada, Idaho, Michigan and Pennsylvania have all established special commissions to look at indigent defense in general and flat fees in particular....