OUR OPINION:
Report a good step for indigent defense
Staff
Sunday, December 15, 2002
There were no trumpets in the Georgia Supreme
Court last week, but surely the ghost of Clarence Earl Gideon was there.
Forty years ago, Gideon's case prompted the U.S. Supreme Court to rule
that states are required to furnish competent lawyers for poor criminal
defendants.
Georgia ignored its constitutional responsibility, shifting the
burden to counties. As a consequence, a patchwork of inadequate and
poorly funded systems has cropped up around the state; they vary from
those that use appointed lawyers, busy with their own private practices
and often with little training in criminal law, to those that contract
with a lawyer to handle scores of cases for a flat fee.
Only 21 of Georgia's 159 counties hire full-time lawyers for the poor
(public defenders), and many of them are underfunded.
Last week, a state Commission on Indigent Defense delivered a strong,
well-documented report recommending that the state fully fund a new
system and impose uniform standards to guarantee qualified lawyers for
the poor. The major hurdle, of course, will be funding. A decent system
of indigent defense could easily cost $55 million a year.
Many states have found innovative ways to fund indigent defense. Four
Southern states --- Arkansas, North Carolina, Kentucky and Tennessee ---
use a variety of earmarked sources, including a percentage of release
bonds posted by defendants and a portion of DUI fines.
Further, taxpayers can save enormous sums of money in jail costs when
a more equitable system is created.
"There were 18,851 inmates awaiting trial in Georgia jails on any
given day in October 2002. At a cost of $35 per day, counties are
spending up to $659,785 a day --- $240,821,525 a year --- housing
prisoners awaiting trial. By providing prompt access to lawyers after
arrest, the cost of incarceration . . . could be reduced or avoided,"
the report stated.
While the state must pick up most of the cost for a new system,
counties will have to face up to a trade-off. For example, counties
might have to give the state some of the court fines they receive.
Sen.-elect Chuck Clay (R-Marietta), who worked diligently as a member of
the commission, said that lawmakers will have to find an earmarked
source of funds, such as possible surcharges on fines, rather than rely
on state appropriations from the general fund.
The report does not waffle on the urgency of reform, warning that
lawsuits could force more costly changes. Pointing to public defenders
in DeKalb and Houston counties as good models to follow, the report
recommends that the state establish public defender systems in the 59
judicial circuits.
The Commission on Indigent Defense, chaired by BellSouth General
Counsel Charles Morgan, spent two years investigating the state's sorry
justice for poor criminal defendants, but its work took on urgency only
after some prodding from Steven Bright, who heads the Southern Center
for Human Rights. He brought in defendants who had suffered injustices
to tell their stories to commission members. After that, the commission
wisely retained a national consultant, the Spangenberg Group, to gather
sample data from 19 counties.
The commission was also helped along by support from the Georgia Bar
Association, which ignored the objections of judges. Georgia judges have
traditionally fought the establishment of a strong system of indigent
defense because they want to retain the power of appointing attorneys
for the poor or keep a tight fist on funds; they often deny the defense
money for investigators and expert witnesses.
But even with the backing of the Georgia Bar and strong support from
Norman Fletcher, chief justice of the Georgia Supreme Court, the push
for indigent defense has immense hurdles to overcome. After all, the
poor have little political power.
As Fletcher said, "This is just the beginning."
Now it's up to Gov.-elect Sonny Perdue and the Georgia Legislature to
show they understand the importance of having all Georgians to stand
equally before the bar of justice.
