There is not any greater tyranny than for a government to remove an individual’s liberty and not using a criminal trial that could be a “fair fight.”
Public defenders are a nationwide bulwark that protects indigent defendants from the “law enforcement machine.” But who should appoint the person to guide public defense in Louisiana?
As a co-founder of the Players Coalition and a former Saints player, I care deeply about keeping Louisiana’s criminal justice system fair and equitable. I imagine we’re all one selection or charge away from becoming entangled within the criminal justice system. An independent public defense system is critical to protecting the constitutional rights of each the innocent and people who have made poor decisions.
The U.S. Supreme Court has repeatedly held that the state has a constitutional obligation to respect the skilled independence of public defenders. Noting that “a public defender best serves the public not by acting on behalf of or in concert with the state, but rather by furthering the client’s undivided interests,” the court stated that “a public defender is not subject to administrative direction in the same sense as other state employees.”
In 2007, the Louisiana Legislature successfully achieved the constitutional goal of independence by creating the Louisiana Public Defenders Board (LPDB). For now, the LPDB stays an 11-member board appointed by all three branches of presidency, and this independent board selects the one that will lead public defense in Louisiana.
That modified Thursday when Gov. Jeff Landry signed Senate Bill 8, which passed each chambers through the second special legislative session last month.
Senate Bill 8, now House Bill 22, undermines independence by transferring the authority to control and fund public defender services from the board to the brand new Office of the State Public Defender and giving the governor – moderately than an independent board – the ability to independently select the state public defender chargeable for administering the system Louisiana Public Defense. While the Senate and Council must confirm the governor’s nominee, they can not conduct the rigorous nationwide search that the people of Louisiana deserve. The council doesn’t have the authority to remove a public defender from office – even when she or he becomes incapacitated or commits abuse.
Regardless of whether one believes that the governor won’t put undue political pressure on his appointed public defender, what about ensuring that the following governor or the following will do the identical? What guarantees that the following governor won’t cut the general public defense budget because funding public defenders is politically unpalatable or refuse to renew the contract of the county’s chief public defender simply because the governor asked him to? If we were discussing the federal defense system, would conservatives do well to provide President Joe Biden the tyrannical power to regulate how well or poorly persons are shielded from charges brought by the U.S. Department of Justice?
Louisiana has serious defense problems, however the LPDB shouldn’t be one in all them.
Louisiana, unlike another state, relies heavily on traffic tickets to fund public defense. This puts law enforcement officers in an untenable position. For example, a sheriff in Louisiana may determine that it’s in the perfect interest of the community to focus sheriff’s resources on stopping the spread of fentanyl. The decision to reallocate police personnel from traffic to drug enforcement could also be a prudent public safety decision, but reallocating such police resources would end in each a discount in public defense funding and a rise in the necessity for public defenders. Putting law enforcement on this position simply doesn’t make sense.
During the regular session, which ends in June, Louisiana lawmakers should restore an independent board empowered to determine and implement indigent defense policies vital to guard the constitutional rights of Louisianans. They should then get serious about joining the vast majority of nations that fund public defense solely through general appropriations.
