That Virginia pays its public defenders a pitifully small amount for their services -- and sometimes buys pitifully poor representation for the accused as a result -- does not exactly qualify as news. It has not qualified as news since 1971, when a report called the Commonwealth's public defenders "overworked, underpaid, [and] inadequately trained."

The state sits near the bottom in a ranking based on the fees paid to public defenders. For certain short-sighted individuals, this is not a problem at all: Why should the state spend more than absolutely necessary on behalf of degenerates?

The trouble is that, absent decent representation, the state cannot distinguish between the degenerate and the morally upright. Persons of modest means who are accused of crimes find themselves in an asymmetrical contest, an unequal battle: The state brings its full weight to bear in an attempt to imprison them; their lawyers -- often young, inexperienced, and overbooked -- are outgunned. The imbalance increases the chances that an innocent person will be sent to the slammer.

That innocent persons wind up behind bars, often for years, is indisputable; DNA evidence lately has cleared several, including some on Death Row. How many more might languish for years, perhaps losing homes and families in the process, after being convicted of lesser crimes they did not commit? And how many guilty persons are getting off scot-free? The purpose of the justice system is to protect the rights of the innocent. Punishing the innocent is just as much a failure of the system as policemen failing to stop a robbery in progress.