Missouri Justice recognizes public defender crisis

The Chief Justice of the Missouri Supreme Court  is warning her state’s legislature that if they don’t pony up some cash, they may be facing lawsuits because of the poor quality of indigent defense in that state:

“One measure of a society’s justice system is how well it handles the worst of citizens who come before it,” Stith said during her address at the Capitol. “Well, I hope there are other measures too, because of all states with statewide public defender systems, Missouri ranks dead last in per capita funding of public defenders.”

The problem, according to Stith, affects both the defendants in criminal cases and the victims. Defendants might be denied their constitutional guarantees to quick public trials and adequate defense. Victims sometimes must watch in frustration as evidence or witnesses disappear and stress increases. She warned that, if not corrected, defendants potentially could be set free without going to trial.

“Missouri does not want to find itself in the position of other states, such as Indiana, Montana and Washington, that were faced with the possibility of releasing prisoners or lawsuits from the ACLU if they did not fix their public defender crises,” stated Stith.