Too many cases, too few defenders
State ranks 47th in spending on its public defender system
By TERESA RESSEL\Daily Journal Staff Writer
Jan 21, 2006 - 21:38:51 CST
“There are two ways to fix it,” said State Public Defender J. Marty Robinson. “Either there's not enough people (attorneys) or there are too many cases. If we had fewer cases we wouldn't have a problem.”
Missouri's public defender system is the only system in the country that has not received an increase in their yearly budget for the past five years.
The study done by the Spangenberg Group for the Missouri Bar Association found that Missouri ranked 47th among the 50 states in cost-per-capita for indigent defense.
Robinson said the state, which funds the public defender system, is starting to do better. Unfortunately, there are other departments who want and need more money, too.
“Public defense may not be popular but it is a fundamental right that goes back to the Bill of Rights,” he said. “It sets us (apart) from other countries.”
Robinson said in fiscal year 2007, they are seeking additional staff to begin a three-year plan designed to bring the average caseload down to 235 cases by fiscal year 2010. The last time they were given funds for additional attorneys was in fiscal year 2001. Since then, the caseload has increased by 10,000 cases.
The state Public Defender Commission has also requested funds to improve salaries and begin a student loan repayment plan for attorneys in their first 36 months of service as a public defender. They are asking for about a $7,000 a year increase in salaries to make the salaries comparable to that of prosecuting attorneys.
To save some money, the commission is also asking that they allow some of the work, such as cases involving traffic, child support, and bad checks, to be handled by supervised legal assistants and paralegals.
Last year, the Missouri Bar Association launched a temporary volunteer program where private attorneys can accept these minor types of cases. The bar offered free continuing legal education to lawyers who helped out. Statewide, 300 attorneys signed up.
In addition, the Missouri Bar Association has formed a task force to study longer range strategies for the caseload crisis.
“It's not just a public defender problem,” Robinson said. “It's a Missouri bar problem and a Missouri citizen problem and a whole criminal justice system problem that needs to be addressed.”
District Defender Wayne Williams said people might argue that money is not the solution to the problem.
He said that might be true if the public defender system were wasteful or not accountable. He said they have already “trimmed the fat” and they are extremely accountable. They have documents to back up everything. He said he would challenge other departments to be as accountable as the public defender system is.
“In my opinion, money is an answer that will allow us to provide ourselves with sufficient resources,” Williams said.
He said while public defense is unpopular, the country was built on rules and a system of government and laws. He said it shouldn't be something that just sounds good on paper. He wants his employees and clients to be on an even-playing field so that a miscarriage of justice doesn't occur.
“Can you imagine being represented (on a murder charge) by someone with one year of experience or even two years of experience?” he asked.
He said he doesn't know whether a person would get better representation with a private attorney but he said they could get an attorney with more experience and more time to work on each individual case.
He said clients would be lucky to have his attorneys working on their case but experience is important, too. He said while they are very intelligent, highly-dedicated, and highly-motivated, it takes time to learn the things they need to learn.
Williams said he is still learning things after 10 years of working for the public defender system. He said when they have been practicing less than two years, they have so much to learn.
“They are just getting started,” he said.
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