New Orleans Criminal Court Judge Arthur Hunter, a former police officer, ruled that seven people awaiting trial in jail without adequate legal defense must be released. The law is clear. It seems the only way Louisiana will respect the Constitution is to follow Judge Hunter's ultimatum. No lawyers? No jail.

Judge Jane Kelly is still available, should the next president be listening.

Louisiana is extraordinary in that the primary source for public defense funding comes from fees defendants must pay if found guilty of a crime. That means public defenders can only guarantee their salary if enough of their clients are convicted of crimes. Acquittals are bad for business.

Ironically, Speaker Boehner resorted to the American justice system to sue President Obama, the very system he has worked relentlessly to underfund for indigents. Instead of suing Obama, he should start fixing the system he and his colleagues broke.

Advising the accused is not a politically popular job. But it is a necessary one. To criticize defense attorneys, the chief checks against prosecutorial abuse, is to promote a judicial system of error by stigmatizing a key motivator for better prosecution.

Taxpayers are paying thousands of dollars to send people to prisons when the fines are less than the cost of incarceration. Some counties even brag about the amount of money raised from fines, but they are using false math.