Cuts impact justice

From the Park Rapids Enterprise:

Justice delayed is justice denied.

That prognostication has become both a cliché and a rallying call for legal reformers. But it’s about to become a burden on indigent Minnesotans and cash-strapped counties.

On June 5 massive cuts were enacted to the state public defenders budget to address deficits and budget shortfalls. The equivalent of 72 of 441 positions was cut from public defenders’ offices and appellate lawyers statewide, a 15 percent reduction in staff.

Minnesota public defenders, according to state compiled statistics, represent 85 percent of all persons charged with felonies and half of the persons accused of misdemeanors.

“I would think that we’re higher up here in PD representation than those numbers simply because the metro areas have a larger pool of private attorneys from the criminal defense bar,” said Kris Kolar, Chief Public Defender for the 9th Judicial District. She added that Hubbard County may be more economically distressed, so that would be a factor, too.

The State Board of Public Defense also voted to stop representing indigent parents in custody fights and in terminations of parental rights (TPR) cases. The former are typically referred to as CHIPS cases, for Children in Need of Help or Protection.

The Board said it faced a $3.8 million deficit after legislators cut $1.5 million from its budget this past session.

It means that overworked public defenders will shoulder even heavier caseloads, poor defendants will wait longer to go to trial and to appeal their cases, court administrators will wait longer to collect fines and fees and the judicial system will feel the strain.

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