Criminal Law Section gets update on Campaign for Justice

By Roberta M. Gubbins Legal News "Campaign for Justice is a coalition of organizations and individuals that is advocating for statewide reform of Michigan's defense services delivery system," said John Shea, Attorney, at the Ingham County Bar Association Luncheon Lecture held on February 17th at the Michael Franck building in Lansing. "The Campaign is supported not only by the usual suspects such as the Innocence Project, the National Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers, Legal Aide and Defenders Association, the ACLU but also" such groups as Race Relations Council for Southwest Michigan, the Michigan Board of Rabbis, and the NAACP. More than fifty groups and individuals are supporting the Campaign's efforts. "It is a campaign that appeals to a broad spectrum of interests because the need is so obvious and the justice aspects of it are so important." The goals of the campaign are to create: * A system that has adequate state funding * A system that meets and enforces minimum American Bar Association (ABA) and State Bar of Michigan (SBM) principles for public defense delivery systems. "Michigan has not had standards for how to provide those services or how to determine qualifications for attorneys or caseload management or any other standards," Shea said. "The ABA drafted ten principles of a public defense delivery system, which included a system independent of the judiciary, with state funding and structural integrity, individuals would have their eligibility for the services determined early in the criminal process, provide for confidentiality, insure that lawyers would be available to their clients instead of just there at their elbow in court, and such things as training for attorneys to assure competency, periodic reviews for quality, adequate resources to investigate and hire experts." "The principles were adopted by the SBM with the addition of an eleventh--Advocacy--where there is a defender office, that office will explore and advocate for programs that improve the system and reduce recidivism." "Presently," he said, "there are 83 counties in Michigan and the defense is funded in 83 different ways. The adequacy depends on the county's resources, which are never good. That leads to inconsistent funding and inadequate service delivery models across the state." "Three Michigan counties--Genesee, Berrien and Muskegon--were sued by the ACLU for inadequacy of counsel systemically in those counties. As a result of the law suit, the legislature commissioned a study of the legal defender systems by the National Legal Aid and Defender Association. The results were released in June, 2008." According to the report, "Michigan ranked 44th out of 50 states in per capita spending. The report noted that attorneys do not have access to funding for experts, attorneys have unmanageable case loads, that there are few if any standards for training or performance evaluations and the judiciary controlled the funding and the appointing process. The consequences of this were that more innocent people were convicted and guilty people over- punished." "This caused the legislature to look more closely at the problem. House Bill 5676, which would create the Michigan Public Defense Act, was introduced and assigned to the House Judiciary Committee. We expect the first hearing to be held next month." The Bill will create a commission to develop and oversee an office of public defense, which will be staffed with trained professionals and headed by a chief public defender. An appellate bureau headed by a chief appellate defender to oversee appellate defense functions will also be created. "The plan would adapt to the different regions in the state. It would provide for public defender offices where there was a sufficient caseload to support the office, for a contract system where that is appropriate, and insure there is a role for private appointed counsel. The plan would include "adequate training, caseload management systems, "This is an enormous undertaking. The cost of the Bill could run $160 to $180 million. The counties presently spend about $80 million. There is a lot of momentum to address this problem. We hope we will come up with a workable system even if it has to be phased in." "What does this mean for lawyers or public defender offices around the state?" "Some don't like the idea of someone looking over their shoulder. Private counsel may believe they will not have work anymore. What I say to them is that 'this is not about you.' This is about dealing with a broken system. I don't think they should be concerned--they will be needed--the work is not going away." Shea encouraged the Ingham County Bar Association to endorse the House Bill. In answer to questions, Shea said: The ACLU case is presently before the Michigan Supreme Court on the defense motion for Summary Disposition to dismiss the case for no cause of action. The bill would contract with existing Public Defender offices such as the one in Kent or Washtenaw counties. It would add others as needed and work within the budget and goals. Published: Thu, Mar 4, 2010

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