Professors propose a 'defender general' to level the playing field

State court is where everyday criminal justice gets meted out. Generally speaking, if you’re arrested for robbery, or assault, you’re getting arrested by local police and prosecuted in a state court, under state law. What does it matter what happens in fancy federal courts across the country? And what could be less relevant to the informal, chaotic mess that is state court than the pristine halls of the Supreme Court of the United States?

For better or for worse, it’s all relevant. The Supreme Court decides when police can question...