Budget cuts would put system in jeopardy

From the Post-Bulletin (MN):

A 10 percent cut budget cut would result in the elimination of 300 to 400 positions statewide.

The justice system includes prosecutors, public defenders, law enforcement and people who provide legal services to the poor.

John Stuart, chief public defender in Minnesota, said his department cut 53 public defender positions last year because of budget woes. Another 100 public defenders would be lost under a 10 percent budget cut, he said. These are the attorneys who represent people unable to hire lawyers.

“I love living in a country where people have rights. Everyone has the right to a fair trial, but that does not happen automatically,” he said. “People have to be there to do the work, to provide the service.”

In Rochester, he said, there are public defenders with 200 active cases. Stuart said there will be delays.

“No one gets a fair trial if he has to wait one or two years for his trial,” Stuart said.

If cases are delayed, security is jeopardized, Stuart said. Jails will become more overcrowded because defendants will be held longer waiting for trials and hearings, increasing the cost to counties.

Olmsted County Sheriff Steve Von Wald said crime usually goes up in times of economic crisis.

Magnuson said courts collect $200 million in revenue annually for state and local governments. Much of that would be gone.

He said the state’s justice system is stretched to the breaking point and further cuts would jeopardize the system. And that, he said, will affect just about every Minnesotan.

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