Lansing State Journal: State shirks its role on court defense

The Lansing State Journal weighs in with a spot on editorial today on Michigan's public defense crisis.

Ingham County's newest budget includes a 7 percent reduction in fees to provide legal defenses for poor defendants. In the words of one observer, "a broken system is getting steadily worse."  

And the only viable reform is to follow an example found outside Michigan: Make the state responsible for funding public defense.

The Campaign for Justice is a coalition of groups, stretching from the ACLU of Michigan to the Michigan Judges Association to the advocacy arm of the Catholic Church in Michigan. Last year, the coalition issued an assessment of Michigan's system of public defense. It wasn't pretty. Among the points the group made, "Michigan is one of only seven states that provides no state funding for trial-level public defense services. Michigan's 83 counties and municipalities are ill-equipped to fund and manage statewide public defense services."

The Campaign for Justice is a client, and they're doing good work.