{"id":28786,"date":"2016-08-04T13:25:47","date_gmt":"2016-08-04T17:25:47","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/sidebarforplaintiffs.naomifein.net\/?p=28786"},"modified":"2016-08-06T12:42:13","modified_gmt":"2016-08-06T16:42:13","slug":"how-to-find-a-public-defender-in-missouri","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/sidebarforplaintiffs.naomifein.net\/?p=28786","title":{"rendered":"How to find a public defender in Missouri"},"content":{"rendered":"

Can’t remember where I grabbed this–from one of the law journals I can’t enter fully. But isn’t this terrific? And isn’t this Michael Barrett guy smart?<\/p>\n

It may seem unnecessary to point this out but he knows how to read legal documents. (Not all lawyers do.) And it starts me thinking: do other states have buried in their laws similar provisions? And should other pro bono legal groups starting hunting through state laws?<\/p>\n

A revolution in support of Gideon.<\/p>\n

Bravo, Mr. Barrett.<\/p>\n

Michael Barrett, the director of Missouri\u2019s public defender system, says he has a big funding problem. In an unusual letter to the governor, Jay Nixon, Barrett said the state\u2019s public defender system is ranked 49th in the U.S., that its budget has been repeatedly cut, and that he can\u2019t hire enough attorneys for the department to do its job under the current funding level. Luckily, section 600.042.5 of state law allows him to essentially pick any member of the Missouri bar to defend a case if the need arises. So, he\u2019s assigned a case to a prominent Missouri attorney, Gov. Jay Nixon, to prove his point. [St. Louis Post-Dispatch<\/a>]<\/em><\/p>\n

UPDATE 8\/6\/2016<\/strong>. And the estimable Kevin Underhill, incisive and witty maestro of Lowering the Bar, had this to say about it:<\/p>\n

Missouri\u2019s Governor Appointed to Represent Criminal Defendant<\/h2>\n

Aug 05, 2016 05:30 am | Kevin<\/h4>\n

\"That's<\/p>\n

<\/a>No, that doesn\u2019t say Missouri\u2019s governor\u00a0appointed\u00a0someone to represent a criminal defendant. It says someone appointed\u00a0him<\/a>\u00a0to do it. How could that happen? Oh, I\u2019m glad you asked.<\/em><\/p>\n

As you likely know from endless viewings of Law & Order, or maybe from having been arrested, you have the right to an attorney and if you cannot afford an attorney one will be appointed\u00a0for you. See Gideon v. Wainwright<\/a>, 372 U.S. 335 (1963).\u00a0The state is constitutionally required to make sure criminal defendants get a lawyer. The lawyers who\u00a0do that work need to get paid, so the state pays them if a defendant can\u2019t. Or at least it\u2019s supposed to. As people who work in that field<\/a> have explained \u00a0better than I can<\/a>, the public-defender system is important but chronically underfunded in most states.\u00a0Missouri seems to be one of those states<\/a>.<\/em><\/p>\n

According to the St. Louis Post-Dispatch<\/a>, Missouri\u2019s criminal-defense attorneys\u2014and I can never resist pointing out the importance of this\u00a0hyphen, because \u201ccriminal-defense attorney\u201d and \u201ccriminal defense attorney\u201d are two very different things\u2014those people\u00a0handle something like 85,000\u00a0cases a year. And, in 2015, there were 376 criminal-defense attorneys in the state.<\/em><\/p>\n

Handling 85,000\u00a0cases.<\/em><\/p>\n

I did the math for you\u2014that\u2019s an average of almost 226 cases per attorney per year<\/strong>. Every case isn\u2019t going to be active at the same time, but the guy featured in this article<\/a> was said to be juggling\u00a0130 to 150 cases at any given time. That is a ridiculous caseload. They need more people. So the Missouri Public Defender System asked for an extra $23 million<\/a>\u00a0in funding, to which the governor responded by recommending $1 million. Public defenders aren\u2019t getting paid piles of money, but that amount still wouldn\u2019t make much difference. Legislators ended up compromising on\u00a0$4.5 million\u2014only to have the governor withhold the extra $3.5 million<\/a> (which is apparently legal because state revenue is below projection).<\/em><\/p>\n

So, the system\u2019s director appears to be thoroughly fed up with the situation and he blames Gov. Jay Nixon\u00a0for it. How do we know that? Here is how we know that. On Tuesday he wrote the governor a letter<\/a> pointing out some of the facts above, noting that\u00a0Missouri ranks 49th out of 50 in terms of funding (I assume that controls for state population, but don\u2019t know), and saying that things had reached a critical point. Explaining that a state statute<\/a> gives the director authority to \u201c[d]elegate the legal representation of any person to any member of the state bar,\u201d presumably meaning he can do that if necessary to meet\u00a0constitutional requirements, he said he had decided to\u00a0appoint one:<\/em><\/p>\n

As Director of the Missouri State Defender System tasked with carrying out the State\u2019s obligation to ensure that poor people who face incarceration are afforded competent counsel in their defense, I hereby appoint you, Jeremiah W. (Jay) Nixon, Bar No. 29603<\/strong>, to enter your appearance as counsel of record in the attached case.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Emphasis added.<\/em><\/p>\n

Can he do that? Well, he did it. Does he expect the governor to show up in court? Probably not. According to the governor\u2019s spokesguy, only a judge can appoint (order) a private attorney to represent someone; the public defender\u2019s office is only authorized to \u201cdelegate\u201d representation, which he said means they can hire private attorneys to help, but they have to consent. I don\u2019t know if that\u2019s true, but I\u2019m pretty sure the governor has no intention of playing ball here.<\/em><\/p>\n

It\u2019s probably not a coincidence that the agency has already sued the governor<\/a> to try to force him to restore the $3.5 million. Actually,\u00a0according to this report<\/a>, \u201can initial hearing on that case is set for Monday.\u201d So no, not a coincidence.<\/em><\/p>\n

See also Scott Greenfield, \u201cJay Nixon for the Defense<\/a>,\u201d\u00a0Simple Justice (Aug. 4, 2016) (for the views of an actual, and hyphenated, criminal-defense lawyer).<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Can’t remember where I grabbed this–from one of the law journals I can’t enter fully. But isn’t this terrific? And isn’t this Michael Barrett guy smart? It may seem unnecessary to point this out but he knows how to read … Continue reading →<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[337],"tags":[807],"class_list":["post-28786","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-legal-news","tag-pro-bono-legal-services"],"aioseo_notices":[],"aioseo_head":"\n\t\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\t