Reform State's Broken Public Defender System

    May 14, 2007
    Detroit News
    Letters


    Solutions to the state's prison crisis ("Amend laws to ease overcrowded prisons," April 17) must include reform of Michigan's broken public defense system. Public defenders play an enormous role in ensuring that our criminal justice system operates efficiently.

    But, due to huge caseloads, defenders frequently seek delays that leave people sitting in jail for long periods before their guilt or innocence is determined. They fail to research alternatives to incarceration or check that the sentencing calculation is correct. As a result, people have undoubtedly spent far longer in jail than the law requires. Worse, without an appropriate defense, the innocent are convicted of crimes they did not commit -- a gross injustice that wastes taxpayer money. Michigan fails to provide adequate funding, standards, oversight or training for public defense. The link between this failure and our ballooning incarceration costs is obvious. State policymakers should take note.

    Robert Brown Jr.
    Retired Director
    Michigan Department of Corrections
    Lansing



National Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers (NACDL)
1660 L St., NW, 12th Floor, Washington, DC 20036
(202) 872-8600 • Fax (202) 872-8690 • assist@nacdl.org