Lawyers ask high court to block new public defender system

From the Herald-Tribune:

The state’s defense lawyer association has asked the Florida Supreme Court to block a new law that sets up a second tier of public attorneys to represent indigent criminal defendants.

Lawyers working for the five appointed criminal conflict and civil regional counsels will replace private attorneys that courts appoint when elected public defenders have a conflict of interest.

That typically happens when multiple defendants are charged in a single crime. The new offices also will provide legal representation in child dependency cases.

The Legislature created the system as a cheaper alternative to court-appointed lawyers because their costs have spiraled in recent years.

A. Russell Smith, president of the Florida Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers, which filed the challenge Thursday, acknowledged the state is looking for ways to cut spending due to a current-year revenue shortfall of $1.1 billion.

“They just picked a bad place to save a few bucks,” Smith said Friday. “You can’t scrimp on constitutional protection.”

The association, which includes public defenders and private defense lawyers, contends the new law violates a provision of the Florida Constitution that says public defenders must be elected and live in the judicial circuits they represent.

The five new regional counsels meet neither criteria, the association says. They are appointed by the governor, not elected, and work within each of the state’s five appellate districts rather than its 20 judicial circuits.

The association also argues it’s a conflict of interest for the executive branch to make the appointments because it also oversees state prosecutors.

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