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As 2015 comes to a close, the Michigan Indigent Defense Commission is pleased to report that the first set of proposed minimum standards will be imminently submitted to the Michigan Supreme Court, our staff is growing, and we have Regional Consultants in place to begin the work of compliance and best practices in indigent defense delivery systems in this state through 2016.
The Commission met on December 15th and formally voted to submit the first set of proposed standards to the Michigan Supreme Court during the first week of January 2016. Since the public hearing on August 18, 2015, and since the Commission’s October 2015 meeting, changes have been made to the originally proposed standards. The final version to be submitted to the Michigan Supreme Court can be found on the MIDC’s website.
During the meeting, the Commission heard a presentation from Professor Robert Boruchowitz from the Seattle University School of Law about national trends in public defense. Based on that presentation, some discussion began about the next standards to be proposed by the MIDC such as caseload limitations and financial incentives and disincentives for working on cases including attorney compensation.
The Commission also announced that six regional consultants will begin working in early January through the end of the fiscal year. These consultants will serve as the liaisons between local systems and the MIDC and will work with criminal justice stakeholders to design the most appropriate plans for meeting minimum standards for indigent defense in a particular county or system.
In northern Michigan and the Upper Peninsula, the regional consultant is Michael Naughton. Mike lives in Traverse City, and has experience in both state and federal court at the trial and appellate level. Mike is recognized as a technology expert statewide for criminal cases, and regularly serves as a trainer on technology and complex electronic discovery for attorneys. Mike is a CDAM Board Member and Vice President of the Utopia Foundation in Traverse City.
Christopher Dennie will serve as the regional consultant in western Michigan. Chris has most recently served as a public defender with the Kent County Office of the Defender for fourteen years, working on every type of criminal case from misdemeanors to murder trials. Chris was part of a team of attorneys assigned to a grant project at the 63rd District Court that concluded this fall, which provided for counsel to accused defendants at their first appearance before a magistrate or judge. Chris brings extensive experience in indigent defense to his new role as an MIDC consultant.
Barbara Klimaszewski will work as the regional consultant in the central/northern Michigan region, where she has represented indigent defendants for more than 30 years. Barbara began working as an attorney in legal services prior to opening a practice with her partner William T. Street in Saginaw in 1978. Barbara served as a CDAM Board Member for approximately 20 years, she regularly serves as a CDAM Trial College Trainer, and is highly respected by members of the bench and bar for her skills and experience as a criminal defense attorney.
In the central/southern region of Michigan, Ashley Carter will serve as the regional consultant. Ashley has been a Staff Attorney at the Legal Aid Society in Brooklyn, New York. Ashely grew up in Detroit and deeply committed to improving indigent defense in Michigan, having taken time to study Detroit’s assigned counsel system and to design a training model to improve communication between attorneys and clients at the initial client interview.
Cheryl Carpenter will serve as the regional consultant in Oakland, Macomb, Lapeer and St. Clair Counties. Cheryl began her career as a public defender in in St. Louis, Missouri, and has been in private practice in southeast Michigan working as a criminal defense attorney for the past fourteen years. Cheryl serves as faculty at the National Trial College, at CDAM’s Trial College, and as an Adjunct Professor of Trial Skills at Cooley Law School. In addition to working on high profile criminal cases, Cheryl has been a statewide leader in efforts to reform Michigan’s Sex Offender Registry.
Wayne County’s regional consultant is Kelly McDoniel. Kelly has worked in Wayne County for several years, serving as the Director of Training through the Wayne County Criminal Defense Bar Association and as a Research Attorney with SADO’s Criminal Defense Resource Center. Kelly has worked closely with members of the Detroit bar, where the overwhelming majority of cases involve the representation of poor people, to design training and organize resources for attorneys with a wide range of experience levels.
The MIDC has also hired Christopher Sadler as a Research Associate. Chris has recently worked as an analyst with the Michigan Department of Education and has a master’s degree in Public Administration. Chris will work closely with MIDC Research Director Dr. Jonah Siegel. The MIDC Act provides for court compliance with data collection. After the first set of proposed minimum standards are adopted, support for data analysis will be critical.
The MIDC will soon be distributing a survey to attorneys relating to the first set of minimum standards, as a complement to the survey that was sent to court systems late last summer. If criminal defense attorneys are interested in beta testing this survey before it is sent statewide, please contact Marla McCowan to participate and provide feedback as the questions are being finalized. The MIDC will post comprehensive reports on these surveys after completion.
The MIDC staff continues to travel around Michigan meeting with members of the criminal justice community and the general public. MIDC Executive Director Jonathan Sacks presented to criminal defense attorneys at CDAM’s annual conference in Traverse City and spoke at the Michigan Supreme Court’s Judicial Conference in Grand Rapids. We have also begun a court observation and data collection protocol with interns and volunteers that will transition to regional consultants during the early portion of their contract work. Please contact the MIDC to coordinate a staff member or regional consultant to speak with your local bar association or group, to volunteer or to provide us with information of local interest to incorporate into potential compliance plans as we work on implementing our first set of standards in 2016.
Happy New Year.
Contact:
Marla McCowan
Director of Training, Outreach and Support
mmccowan@michiganidc.gov
(517) 657-3066
McMillin Appointed to Commission
On December 30, 2015 Gov. Rick Snyder announced the appointment of Tom McMillin, of Rochester Hills, to the Michigan Indigent Defense Commission.
Read the press release here and read about all of the Commissioners on the MIDC website.
Draft Minutes – December 15, 2015 meeting
The Michigan Indigent Defense Commission met on Tuesday December 15, 2015 in Lansing at the MIDC Office located at 200 N. Washington Square, 3rd Floor. The attached minutes linked below are a draft and are not official. They are subject to approval at the next Commission meeting, to be held on February 16, 2016.
MIDC Draft Minutes 12-15-2015
MIDC End of 2015 Update
View this message and images on Adobe Slate
As 2015 comes to a close, the Michigan Indigent Defense Commission is pleased to report that the first set of proposed minimum standards will be imminently submitted to the Michigan Supreme Court, our staff is growing, and we have Regional Consultants in place to begin the work of compliance and best practices in indigent defense delivery systems in this state through 2016.
The Commission met on December 15th and formally voted to submit the first set of proposed standards to the Michigan Supreme Court during the first week of January 2016. Since the public hearing on August 18, 2015, and since the Commission’s October 2015 meeting, changes have been made to the originally proposed standards. The final version to be submitted to the Michigan Supreme Court can be found on the MIDC’s website.
During the meeting, the Commission heard a presentation from Professor Robert Boruchowitz from the Seattle University School of Law about national trends in public defense. Based on that presentation, some discussion began about the next standards to be proposed by the MIDC such as caseload limitations and financial incentives and disincentives for working on cases including attorney compensation.
The Commission also announced that six regional consultants will begin working in early January through the end of the fiscal year. These consultants will serve as the liaisons between local systems and the MIDC and will work with criminal justice stakeholders to design the most appropriate plans for meeting minimum standards for indigent defense in a particular county or system.
In northern Michigan and the Upper Peninsula, the regional consultant is Michael Naughton. Mike lives in Traverse City, and has experience in both state and federal court at the trial and appellate level. Mike is recognized as a technology expert statewide for criminal cases, and regularly serves as a trainer on technology and complex electronic discovery for attorneys. Mike is a CDAM Board Member and Vice President of the Utopia Foundation in Traverse City.
Christopher Dennie will serve as the regional consultant in western Michigan. Chris has most recently served as a public defender with the Kent County Office of the Defender for fourteen years, working on every type of criminal case from misdemeanors to murder trials. Chris was part of a team of attorneys assigned to a grant project at the 63rd District Court that concluded this fall, which provided for counsel to accused defendants at their first appearance before a magistrate or judge. Chris brings extensive experience in indigent defense to his new role as an MIDC consultant.
Barbara Klimaszewski will work as the regional consultant in the central/northern Michigan region, where she has represented indigent defendants for more than 30 years. Barbara began working as an attorney in legal services prior to opening a practice with her partner William T. Street in Saginaw in 1978. Barbara served as a CDAM Board Member for approximately 20 years, she regularly serves as a CDAM Trial College Trainer, and is highly respected by members of the bench and bar for her skills and experience as a criminal defense attorney.
In the central/southern region of Michigan, Ashley Carter will serve as the regional consultant. Ashley has been a Staff Attorney at the Legal Aid Society in Brooklyn, New York. Ashely grew up in Detroit and deeply committed to improving indigent defense in Michigan, having taken time to study Detroit’s assigned counsel system and to design a training model to improve communication between attorneys and clients at the initial client interview.
Cheryl Carpenter will serve as the regional consultant in Oakland, Macomb, Lapeer and St. Clair Counties. Cheryl began her career as a public defender in in St. Louis, Missouri, and has been in private practice in southeast Michigan working as a criminal defense attorney for the past fourteen years. Cheryl serves as faculty at the National Trial College, at CDAM’s Trial College, and as an Adjunct Professor of Trial Skills at Cooley Law School. In addition to working on high profile criminal cases, Cheryl has been a statewide leader in efforts to reform Michigan’s Sex Offender Registry.
Wayne County’s regional consultant is Kelly McDoniel. Kelly has worked in Wayne County for several years, serving as the Director of Training through the Wayne County Criminal Defense Bar Association and as a Research Attorney with SADO’s Criminal Defense Resource Center. Kelly has worked closely with members of the Detroit bar, where the overwhelming majority of cases involve the representation of poor people, to design training and organize resources for attorneys with a wide range of experience levels.
The MIDC has also hired Christopher Sadler as a Research Associate. Chris has recently worked as an analyst with the Michigan Department of Education and has a master’s degree in Public Administration. Chris will work closely with MIDC Research Director Dr. Jonah Siegel. The MIDC Act provides for court compliance with data collection. After the first set of proposed minimum standards are adopted, support for data analysis will be critical.
The MIDC will soon be distributing a survey to attorneys relating to the first set of minimum standards, as a complement to the survey that was sent to court systems late last summer. If criminal defense attorneys are interested in beta testing this survey before it is sent statewide, please contact Marla McCowan to participate and provide feedback as the questions are being finalized. The MIDC will post comprehensive reports on these surveys after completion.
The MIDC staff continues to travel around Michigan meeting with members of the criminal justice community and the general public. MIDC Executive Director Jonathan Sacks presented to criminal defense attorneys at CDAM’s annual conference in Traverse City and spoke at the Michigan Supreme Court’s Judicial Conference in Grand Rapids. We have also begun a court observation and data collection protocol with interns and volunteers that will transition to regional consultants during the early portion of their contract work. Please contact the MIDC to coordinate a staff member or regional consultant to speak with your local bar association or group, to volunteer or to provide us with information of local interest to incorporate into potential compliance plans as we work on implementing our first set of standards in 2016.
Happy New Year.
Contact:
Marla McCowan
Director of Training, Outreach and Support
mmccowan@michiganidc.gov
(517) 657-3066
Proposed Standards for Submission to Michigan Supreme Court
At the Michigan Indigent Defense Commission meeting on December 15, 2015, the Commission approved the final version of the first set of proposed minimum standards for indigent defense delivery systems. The Standards are available on the MIDC’s website, and available to download as a packet here.
The proposed standards will be submitted to the Michigan Supreme Court in early January.
Public Defender Reform to Get Tougher
On Tuesday December 15, 2015, the Michigan Indigent Defense Commission met for the final time during the calendar year. At the meeting, the Commission voted to submit the final version to the Michigan Supreme Court for adoption pursuant to the procedures set forth in the Michigan Indigent Defense Commission Act. Justin Hinkley of the Lansing State Journal reported on the events of the meeting:
The full article from the Lansing State Journal can be found here.
MIDC Brings Hope to Michigan’s Indigent Defense System
In a recent blog post by the ACLU of Michigan, Carl Bookstein interviewed MIDC Executive Director Jonathan Sacks about the progress of the Commission and the plans for submitting the first set of proposed standards to the Michigan Supreme Court.
Read the blog entry on the ACLU’s website here.
Notice of Upcoming Commission Meeting
Location: Michigan Indigent Defense Commission Offices
Capitol National Bank Business and Trade Center
200 N. Washington Sq, 3rd Floor Conference Room, Lansing
(on the corner of N. Washington Sq. and E. Ottawa St.)
Date: Tuesday December 15, 2015
Time: 1:00 PM
Contact: Marcela Westrate, mwestrate@michiganidc.gov, 517-648-3143
See link to calendar for event map/directions.
MIDC Position Available: Part Time Administrative Assistant
The Michigan Indigent Defense Commission is seeking an Administrative Assistant to join the office on a part-time basis. The ideal candidate will have excellent communication skills and be willing to complete a variety of tasks. The position will begin as part-time employment with an estimated 20 hours per week; it could be made full-time in the future based on the office’s need.
ESSENTIAL DUTIES AND RESPONSIBILITIES include the following. Other duties may be assigned as necessary:
QUALIFICATIONS
EDUCATION AND EXPERIENCE
The job requires knowledge of a specialized nature, normally acquired through a general high school education and from specialized training such as that acquired in the first year of college, technical or business school in word processing, writing skills, office management, and related areas.
Three or more years of progressively more responsible experience in administrative level office experience, as well as advanced knowledge of word processing, database and spreadsheet applications.
CERTIFICATES, LICENSES, REGISTRATIONS
Occasional travel may be required, a valid driver’s license is preferred.
TO APPLY
Electronic submission of application materials is preferred. Cover letter and resume may be e-mailed to: careers@michiganidc.gov with “Administrative Assistant” in the subject line. If you are unable to submit materials electronically, they may be mailed to the MIDC at 200 N. Washington Sq., 3rd Floor, Lansing, MI 48933.
APPLICATION DEADLINE: November 30, 2015
AN EQUAL OPPORTUNITY EMPLOYER
MIDC Research Associate Position Available
Summary:
The Michigan Indigent Defense Commission (MIDC) is hiring a research associate who will work on a variety of projects to measure and improve trial-level indigent defense representation in Michigan. These projects center on the implementation and statistical measurement of new indigent defense standards in trial-level court systems throughout the state. The preferred candidate will possess a strong social science or public policy background, an interest in data analysis, and a desire to enhance his or her research skills.
Essential Duties and Responsibilities:
• Assist with the identification of research measures and data collection protocols to assess compliance with MIDC standards for best practices in indigent defense representation;
• Participate in the collection of data on indigent defense representation from over 150 court systems around the state;
• Manage, analyze and interpret large and complex data sets, including integrating, cleaning, coding, and verifying accuracy of data;
• Translate research findings into written reports and policy briefings; prepare and deliver presentations to practitioners and researchers;
• Participate in the identification, planning, development, and implementation of additional research projects;
• Assist on other projects as assigned.
Education and Experience:
• Possession of a master’s degree in Criminology, Public Policy, Social Work, Sociology or related field with coursework in measurement, evaluation and research design. Master’s degree may be substituted with sufficient coursework and at least three years of post-bachelor experience with evaluation research and statistical modeling.
• Demonstrated capacity for statistical analysis and Stata/SAS/SPSS programming;
• Ability to manage work on multiple projects effectively and to work both independently and collaboratively;
• Drive to develop creative solutions to address methodological challenges;
• Strong interpersonal and communication skills.
The preferred candidate will have criminal justice research and evaluation experience and a knowledge of Michigan’s criminal justice system.
Certificates, Licenses, Registrations:
Occasional travel may be required, an individual with a valid driver’s license and insured vehicle is preferred.
Salary:
The anticipated salary range is $45,000 – $55,000 based on education and experience.
Work Location:
Lansing, Michigan with occasional travel throughout the state.
To apply please send your cover letter and resume in Microsoft Word or Adobe Acrobat format to careers@michiganidc.gov. If you are unable to send materials electronically they may be mailed to the MIDC, 200 N. Washington Square, 3rd Floor, Lansing, MI 48933.
SUBMISSION DEADLINE: November 30, 2015
AN EQUAL OPPORTUNITY EMPLOYER
MIDC Request for Proposals: Regional Consultants
The Michigan Indigent Defense Commission (MIDC) is seeking regional consultants to help create superior systems for representation of indigent clients. On the forefront of reform, these consultants will provide direction and guidance to indigent defense delivery systems around the state on compliance with MIDC-enacted standards. They will serve as the liaisons between local systems and the MIDC.
This challenging and rewarding opportunity will require the skills of a diplomat and knowledge of indigent defense systems and models. Successful candidates will work with criminal justice stakeholders to design the most appropriate plans for meeting minimum standards for indigent defense in a particular county or system.
Preferred candidates will have a juris doctor degree and experience representing indigent clients. A minimum of five years of progressively more responsible work experience working in court, public, or business administration, or representing indigent clients is desired. A bachelor’s degree is required, and a master’s degree in public or business administration or a juris doctor from an accredited law school may be substituted for two years of experience.
Significant travel to the assigned region of Michigan is expected. Consultants will be independent contractors and may work out of their homes or offices in those regions.
Interested candidates should send a resume and a proposal detailing qualifications, desired pay rate, and the preferred region of the state for placement to opportunities@michiganidc.gov.
The deadline for submitting proposals is November 20, 2015.
The Michigan Indigent Defense Commission is an equal opportunity employer.