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Contact: Stephanie Chang
(734) 751-9814
Tyler Prell (202) 293-6200, ext
211
Landmark Lawsuit
Seeks Repairs to Michigan Justice System
Michigan Coalition for Justice to Press for Reform
Of Long Neglected Public
Defense Systems
LANSING, MI – The Michigan
Coalition for Justice (MCJ) filed a lawsuit today against the State of
Michigan and Governor Jennifer Granholm for failing to fulfill their
constitutional obligation to provide adequate defense services to those
who cannot afford private counsel. The lawsuit does not seek monetary
damages.
The lawsuit charges that
Michigan has long abdicated its constitutional duty to ensure that
citizens accused of crimes receive timely, qualified,
appropriately-resourced lawyers for their defense. “Every day, people who
cannot afford private counsel are being denied justice in Michigan,” said
Michael Steinberg, Legal Director of the ACLU of Michigan. “Michigan must
step up and take charge of public defense in the state to ensure that all
people in Michigan receive equal justice.”
For more than 30 years, state and local experts have reported on
the deficiencies of Michigan’s public defense system, yet the state has
done nothing to improve the situation. Recently, an American Bar
Association report on the state of public defense across the country
repeatedly cited Michigan for failing to meet the ABA Ten Principles,
which are considered the fundamental criteria a system must meet to
provide effective public defense. “Government officials have long been on
notice of these problems,” said Mr. Steinberg. “Despite the deepening crisis,
the state has refused to take action.”
The result is unfair, not just for defendants, but for all of
Michigan’s citizens. “The broken public defense system puts all of
Michigan’s citizens at risk,” said Malia Brink, Indigent Defense Counsel
for the National Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers. “When the
defense cannot function, fair trials are impossible; innocent people go to
jail and guilty people remain free to commit other
crimes.”
The broken system is also
costly. Michigan spends almost $2 billion dollars a year on prisons.
Experts estimate that this amount is 40% higher than other states due to
unwarranted, inappropriately long sentences. “Michigan’s broken system is
wasting enormous amounts of taxpayer money,” said Marty Tieber, a private
attorney in Michigan and member of the Michigan Public Defense Task Force,
which has been working toward reform for many years. “It costs us in
unnecessary jail time; it costs us in the time spent on appeals, as
defendants try time and again to undo the errors created at the trial
level; and it costs us in payouts to people erroneously convicted in the
broken system.”
Michigan provides
no administrative oversight or funding for public defense at the trial
level. “The state’s neglect of the system is egregious,” said Vanita
Gupta, staff attorney at the Racial Justice Project of the National ACLU.
“There are no performance standards, and attorneys receive no training, no
oversight, and no reviews.”
Moreover, the counties have been dramatically underfunding public
defense for years, without any state intervention. The lawsuit focuses on
three counties – Muskegon County, Berrien County, and Genesee County,
where the problems associated with public defense are
obvious.
In Berrien County for example,
the prosecution receives almost four times the funding of the public
defense system.
Because of these
and other inequities, public defenders are crippled by overwhelming
caseloads that impede them from meeting with their clients, investigating
cases, filing appropriate pre-trial motions, and preparing properly for
court appearances. “Quite simply, the public defense available in these
counties does not meet the minimal constitutional requirements, no less
national standards,” said Julie North, an attorney with Cravath, Swaine
& Moore. “The system is so broken that attorneys operating within it
cannot adequately defend their clients.”
The lawsuit was filed in Ingham County Circuit Court. It calls on
the court to declare the current public defense systems of three counties
– Muskegon County, Berrien County, and Genesee County – unconstitutional
and compel the state to provide representation consistent with national
standards and constitutional norms.
The plaintiffs in the case are individuals facing felony charges in
Berrien, Muskegon and Genesee Counties who cannot afford private counsel.
They seek to represent all defendants in Berrien, Muskegon and Genesee
Counties, who are charged or will be charged with felony crimes and who
cannot afford private counsel.
The
Michigan Coalition for Justice is a diverse group of organizations and
individuals committed to reform of Michigan’s public defense system. MCJ
members include the ACLU, the ACLU of Michigan, the Brennan Center for
Justice, the law firm of Cravath, Swaine & Moore, and the National
Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers.
For more information, please visit www.micoalitionforjustice.org.
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