Miscellaneous

Number 44

By Anne Skove, Esq.

The NLADA ranked Michigan 44th (out of 50 or 51, it's not clear) in the nation insofar as indigent defense goes.

They blasted a problem we've known about for ages -- the county-by-county system of everything. This setup is a pain for anyone who has ever surveyed Michigan courts for any reason -- medmal, guardian ad litem, etc. -- because the answers are multiplied times the number of Michigan counties. Rather than a simple yes/no, you get a spreadsheet. Fun!

It's less fun for indigent defendants, who are served what the NLADA report calls McJustice. Actually, a Big Mac might be an improvement.

Why is MIchigan so funky (in a bad way)? Maybe it's due to its complete diversity -- this state houses dunes, a giant thumb, a peninsula, Motown, peat bogs, Eminem (you'd think he'd be from Marshall, ha), Madonna's childhood home, the palindromic Capac, and the posh . Like snowflakes, no two Michigan sites are alike. In states like that, everyone says "but we're too different" and gets away with it.

See Michigan Ranks 44th in the Nation for Public Defense Spending: So-called McJustice System Puts Communities at Risk, NLADA (August 2008).

Is all lost? No. Even the idea-killers known as "we're too different!" or "we're too big!" aren't good excuses. Montana, one of the biggest states (certainly the biggest sky, that's not just a license plate ditty) celebrated the one-year anniversary of its statewide public defender system. Montana's is truly statewide in that, if one region has a sudden dearth of help for whatever reason (notorious trial, conflicts, staff shortage), the system temporarily reassigns staff from another office in the state. If they can do it there, they can do it anywhere.

So, with apologies to the Buckeyes, we say: let's go, MIchigan! Better public defense is an attainable goal. We know you can do it.

See also A Primer, Bob Hicok, New Yorker (May 19, 2008).

Full post as published by court-o-rama.org on August 19, 2008 (boomark / email).