(Image: Missouri State Seal)
Although born in the state of Georgia, I have no real childhood memories outside Missouri. My mother and grandfather were both born there and I was raised in my mother’s hometown. So when Missouri shows up in the news it feels like news from home. I was heartbroken when the evils of structural racism, government exploitation of the poor, and police violence in Ferguson came to national attention. And I am saddened by not surprised that the Missouri state Public Defender System is at a crisis point from an assortment of pressures and in great need of state-wide policy reform. Maybe someone else would know bold words to mourn with – and bolder ones to call for repentance, justice, and a better world. I don’t know any right now- it just makes me sad. But in addition to sad, I also got to hear something about a Missourian who did something wonderful in the face of it. This week, Michael Barrett, Missouri’s Director of the Public Defender System took a stand.
A particularly acute problem the Missouri system faces right now is financial- there is simply not enough money allotted for its staffing needs – especially as policy after policy has been squeezing its budget tighter while filling it with more clients. Michael Barrett sent a letter to Missouri Governor Jay Nixon invoking a statue that allows deficiencies of staffing for public defense to be filled by delegating “any member of the state bar of Missouri”. Barrett wrote that he had not yet invoked this statute because of his “sincere belief that it is wrong to reassign an obligation placed on the state by the 6th and 14th Amendments to private attorneys who have in no way contributed to the current crisis. . . However, given the extraordinary circumstances that compel me to entertain any and all avenues for relief, it strikes me that I should begin with the one attorney in the state who not only created this problem, but is in a unique position to address it.” He then named Gov. Nixon legal counsel in a case.
The Governor’s office today (Aug 4, 2016) issued a statement challenging Barrett’s interpretation of the law and denying any responsibility for the pressures faced by the Public Defender System.
This article from the Atlantic (source for the words of Barrett cited above) has the messy details.
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