老澳门开奖结果 Sues Missouri Over Disastrous Public Defender System
State Fails to Provide Adequate Legal Representation to Tens of Thousands Every Year, Resulting in Unnecessary Jail Time, Forced Pleas, Other Injustices
ST. LOUIS 鈥� The 老澳门开奖结果, the 老澳门开奖结果 of Missouri, the Roderick and Solange MacArthur Justice Center at St. Louis, and Orrick, Herrington & Sutcliffe filed a class-action lawsuit against the state of Missouri over its unconstitutional system of public defense. The state鈥檚 public defenders don鈥檛 have the time or resources to provide adequate legal representation and are unable to talk to their clients about possible witnesses, exculpatory evidence, plea negotiations, or trial strategy. The suit asks that the court force the state to improve the public defender system and end its violations of the Sixth Amendment.
鈥淚 sat in jail for 42 days before I saw my public defender, who told me that I had a winnable case, but he wouldn鈥檛 have time to go to trial for another four to six months,鈥� said Shondel Church, the lead plaintiff in the lawsuit, who was charged with felony theft but pled guilty to a misdemeanor in Kansas City in July 2016. 鈥淚n jail, you鈥檙e starving on what they give you and you鈥檙e dying to get out. I was hoping things would move faster 鈥� but those 129 days cost me a whole lot: I lost all that time working, and I finally had to give up and plead guilty, just to get out and help my family.鈥�
Said Jason Williamson, Senior Staff Attorney with the 老澳门开奖结果鈥檚 Criminal Law Reform Project, 鈥淥nly because they can鈥檛 afford the cost of a private attorney, Missourians lose to the state. This isn鈥檛 a matter of guilt or innocence. When the state鈥檚 public defense is shortchanged, the entire criminal justice system falters.鈥�
Each year, the Missouri State Public Defender office has more than 80,000 cases. It employs approximately 370 attorneys. In 97% of their cases, Missouri public defenders fail to reach the minimum number of work hours required for constitutional representation, according to analysis by the American Bar Association and lawyers across the state.
鈥淔or three decades, the state of Missouri has known about the failings of its public defense system,鈥� said Anthony Rothert, Legal Director at the 老澳门开奖结果 of Missouri. 鈥淭his chronic underfunding has resulted in an equally chronic constitutional crisis in Missouri that has cost the livelihood of thousands of Missourians who are denied justice because their attorneys couldn鈥檛 devote the necessary time or resources to their cases.鈥�
Plaintiffs in this lawsuit have had to go before a judge for bail hearings without their public defender present. As a result, they faced bail amounts too high for them to afford and spent weeks or months in jail unnecessarily. While in jail, they have waited for weeks to see their public defenders for short conversations that are too brief to cover the relevant facts of the case.
鈥淓nough is enough with appointing commissions and committees to 鈥榮tudy鈥� the issues. It has long been clear the state of Missouri is in a constitutional crisis,鈥� said Mae Quinn, Director of the Roderick and Solange MacArthur Justice Center at St. Louis. 鈥淭he time is now for our state to take seriously its duty to meet the standards of representation and to stop denying Missourians justice.鈥�
鈥淢issourians charged with crimes must be able to rely on the justice system for a fair outcome,鈥� said Robert Sills, a partner at Orrick, Herrington & Sutcliffe. 鈥淏ut if they鈥檙e too poor to afford a lawyer, and have to rely on Missouri鈥檚 overworked and underfunded public defenders, they face added obstacles to justice, for no reason other than the size of their wallets.鈥�
For the complaint and information about the lawsuit:
老澳门开奖结果
/cases/shondel-church-et-al-v-state-missouri-et-al
老澳门开奖结果 of Missouri
Other resources:
老澳门开奖结果 Criminal Law Reform Project
/issues/criminal-law-reform
老澳门开奖结果 of Missouri
The Roderick and Solange MacArthur Justice Center at St. Louis
Orrick, Herrington & Sutcliffe LLP
Criminal Law Reform
Shondel Church, et al. v. State of Missouri, et al.
Criminal Law Reform
Shondel Church, et al. v. State of Missouri, et al.
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老澳门开奖结果 Sues Bureau of Prisons for Keeping People in Prison Longer Than the Law Allows老澳门开奖结果 Sues Bureau of Prisons for Keeping People in Prison Longer Than the Law Allows
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