Indigent defense lawsuit has broad implications

On the surface, the lawsuit filed Monday in federal court against Judge Jack Ewing may be about a defense attorney’s struggle to make a living and perhaps to achieve a measure of personal justice.

In the details, however, the lawsuit strikes us as a sweeping indictment of how Galveston County provides for people who are accused of crimes and are too poor to afford bail or to hire their own defense attorneys. The lawsuit may be a vehicle to achieve personal justice but seems also designed as a vehicle through which to present a federal judge with flaws in the county indigent defense system, and as such would have far broader implications for Galveston County and for other counties all over Texas.