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Imagine we had no standard state driver’s license in Michigan, and every county issued its own.

Some counties might give out laminated cards, and others just pieces of paper. Some might require a driving test to get a license, and others not. And, because every county would have to find their own money to issue the licenses - with no support from Lansing - people in some places might get their license in a day, while others might have to wait months.

There would be no consistency. Less safety. No efficiency. Little fairness. No standards from one county to the next.

Clearly, it doesn’t make sense for Michigan to issue driver’s licenses this way. Yet, this is exactly the way Michigan attempts to meet its responsibility, under both the U.S. and state Constitutions, to provide an adequate public defense in court for people who cannot afford to hire an attorney.

In fact, after an extensive yearlong study of public defense in Michigan, the National Legal Aid & Defender Association recently concluded Michigan actually fails to provide competent representation to those who cannot afford counsel in its criminal courts.

The most critical reason for Michigan’s failure in this constitutional duty is that we are one of just seven states to punt all responsibility for trial-level public defense to our counties. The state provides no funding and sets no standards. As a result, Michigan ranks 44 out of 50 states in per capita investments in public defense services.

Eighty-three counties are left to operate under 83 different systems.

For example, there are four different systems for providing public defense services in Washtenaw County and the six counties that border it. While Washtenaw County is rightfully proud of its full-fledged public defender office, it is one of only a handful of Michigan counties that has a public defender office of any kind. It should not matter if you live in Ann Arbor, Ecorse, Muskegon or Marquette. Everyone’s right to an effective defense representation needs to be upheld.

Standards for an effective defense are needed statewide. Right now, there are no state standards to assure lawyers have an opportunity to adequately meet with their clients before trial, for example. Lawyers struggle for access to resources such as investigators needed to put on an adequate defense.

Caseloads for public defense attorneys in cash-strapped counties are often unmanageable, and open the door for mistakes or omissions by even the most dedicated defenders. These mistakes waste taxpayer dollars, put the public’s safety at risk and even place innocent adults and children in prison.

Michigan’s public defense system is broken, and the Michigan Campaign for Justice is working to fix it. The campaign is a non-partisan coalition of organizations and individuals working with state lawmakers to put in place an efficient statewide system of funding for public defense, built around statewide, constitutionally-based standards for representation.

If Michigan can use state standards and state funding for handing out a driver’s license, we also should be able to use those resources in protecting our Constitution.

Laura Sager, Director
Campaign for Justice

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