LANSING – Michigan will spend $84 million to make sure poor people accused of a crime get a fair fight in court.
The money will fund efforts by counties and other local governments to improve their court-appointed attorney systems to meet tough new standards set by the Michigan Indigent Defense Commission. Court-appointed attorneys are paid a fraction of what they can make in the private sector and often put up little fight against the prosecution, a 2016 State Journal investigation found.
Inadequate legal defense is a contributing factor to about half of the state's overturned convictions.
A state first
The $84 million set-aside in the 2019 state government budget is the first state investment in publicly funded attorneys for those who can't afford their own lawyer. The Indigent Defense Commission was created after a 2008 report from the Sixth Amendment Center ranked Michigan's system among the worst in the nation.
"The Commission is pleased with the commitment to indigent defense made by Governor (Rick) Snyder, the State Budget Office, and members of the House of Representatives and Senate," Michael Puerner, chairman of the Indigent Defense Commission, said in a written statement. "The MIDC is looking forward to working with local indigent defense delivery systems to implement their plans, and to continue to monitor implementation and compliance to ensure the responsible use of taxpayers’ dollars."
So far, local governments' reform plans approved by the commission total $78.8 million, spokesman Matthew Erickson said in an email to the State Journal. Plans from five governments — Isabella, Montcalm and Oakland counties, and the cities of Redford and Hazel Park — have yet to be approved and are in mediation, he said.
What it means for attorneys
The state money will help counties pay attorneys more and train them better. In some cases, it will allow defense attorneys to hire independent investigators to more fully review law enforcement's findings against defendants (something that rarely happens now). The money will fund some courthouse renovations so clients who are jailed can have a private place to meet with their attorneys, and also some technology upgrades.
Ingham County is planning the most significant reform in the Lansing area. It plans to shift from its current system in which defense attorneys are hired and paid on a case-by-case basis to a public defender office in which defense attorneys are salaried.
The $84 million is close to the $87 million originally sought by local governments to fund their improvements, and significantly more than the $61 million Gov. Rick Snyder had sought for indigent defense.
But counties still spend millions of dollars more on prosecution than they do on poor people's constitutional right to a publicly funded defense attorney.
The Indigent Defense Commission rejected some local governments' proposed reforms as excessive or unnecessary. For example, some local governments, including Eaton County, had asked the commission to give some money to their prosecutors, prompting commissions to enact a new policy that none of their grants can be used for prosecution.
Snyder has yet to sign the 2016 budget, which takes effect Oct. 1, but is expected to do so.
Contact Justin A. Hinkley at (517) 377-1195 or jhinkley@lsj.com. Follow him on Twitter @JustinHinkley.
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