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 commission, created through a 2013 law designed to reform Michigan’s faulty system for court appointed attorneys, on Tuesday voted to send its first set of proposed standards to the Michigan Supreme Court for a final vote. The standards say appointed attorneys should be well educated and continually trained, should meet quickly with their clients, should thoroughly investigate their cases, and more.

The Supreme Court could OK the new standards by this spring or early summer, and the commission on Tuesday announced the hire of six regional consultants who will help the state’s county based court systems develop compliance plans.

But before sending those standards off, commissioners highlighted some of the politically fraught work still ahead: Namely, reforms to compensation and caseloads for court appointed attorneys, which many observers say is at the crux of the system’s shortcomings.

The full article from the Lansing State Journal can be found here.