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    Wisconsin Lawyer
    December 01, 2003

    Recently Passed Legislation

    The McCormick Plan for Justice, AB 616, ensures that the indigent accused receive counsel by increasing a statewide eligibility standard.

    Terri McCormick

    Wisconsin Lawyer
    Vol. 76, No. 12, December 2003

    Expanding Eligibility for Public Defender Representation

    The McCormick Plan for Justice, AB 616, ensures that the indigent accused receive counsel by increasing a statewide eligibility standard.

    by Terri McCormick

    Rep. Terri McCormickRep. Terri McCormick represents the 56th Assembly district, and resides in Appleton with her family. She was elected in November 2000 and serves as chair of the Assembly Committee on Economic Development and as vice chair of the Committee on Judiciary. She serves on several other committees, including Education Reform, Insurance, Public Health, and Transportation.

    Fewer poor people qualify for a public defender today than ever before because the financial eligibility standards for representation by the State Office of the Public Defender (SPD) are so outdated. Indigent defendants who do not qualify for SPD representation are at the mercy of judges to appoint counsel to represent them at county taxpayer expense, even though it is the right of the accused to have legal representation under our state and federal constitutions. With no statewide eligibility standard in place, judges are appointing counsel based on varying levels of poverty, creating a multi-pronged, patchwork system of indigent defense. To right this injustice, I have introduced legislation ensuring that the state fulfills its constitutional obligation to provide counsel to the indigent accused.

    The McCormick Plan for Justice, Assembly Bill 616 (AB 616), expands eligibility for representation by a public defender. The current eligibility standards are tied by statute to the obsolete 1987 AFDC table and equal 33 percent of the Federal Poverty Level (FPL). Under these standards, a person making as little as $2.87/hour does not qualify for representation. My proposal would raise SPD eligibility standards to 115 percent of the FPL, the same as that for Wisconsin Works (W-2) eligibility. It will guarantee that criminal defendants found to have income at or below the W-2 standard will receive legal representation.

    Currently, counties are appointing counsel for these defendants at a higher cost than SPD representation. Valuable court time is monopolized and cases have to be adjourned while poor people wait in jail without counsel. Since these costs are borne by county taxpayers, this bill provides the solution, which minimizes the eventual impact to taxpayers.

    This bill would ultimately provide a permanent fix to the funding dilemma. In the short term, counties would only have to provide reimbursement to the state at a fixed rate and at a much lower cost. And, after the end of the 2003-2005 state fiscal biennium, the state would pick up the full cost, ending county liability for representing indigent defendants.

    I have every confidence that moving all of the appointments to the SPD is a sound decision. The SPD is a Wisconsin Forward Mastery Award Recipient, in recognition of its dedication to organizational excellence and cost efficiency. The agency's reputation of achieving cost efficiency with quality is known worldwide; other countries, notably Israel and Japan, have modeled their indigent defense programs on Wisconsin's SPD program.

    Indigent defense reform is long overdue. The calls for such reform have come from individuals, taxpayers, and justice partners statewide. We have reached a critical moment in our state, and we must move urgently and purposefully to ensure that all Wisconsin citizens are guaranteed their constitutional right to counsel. More realistic eligibility standards for counsel for the accused indigent will help re-establish a fair and efficient justice system in Wisconsin.

    Assembly Bill 616 is not about a luxury - but a constitutional right. I believe we have no greater responsibility as a legislature than to ensure the effective administration of justice. This legislation is innovative not simply for what it does, but for how it accomplishes its goal of representation for all. It encompasses partnerships and cost sharing and as a result is a lasting solution.

    As vice chair of the Assembly Judiciary Committee and long-time advocate for court reform, I am honored to introduce AB 616, legislation that will at long last repair our system and guarantee liberty and justice for all.


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