Wednesday, September 9, 2009

Montana - Public (Self) Defenders - Unequal Access to inJustice

Dateline September 09, 2009 - The Montana Public (Self) Defender Debacle - A total, often ludicrous failure and A Crisis of Conscience for our Montana Legal/Judicial System ... Hey, Montana, there's a GREAT BIG white elephant in law offices and Courtrooms across Montana!

Question - What do the Montana Public Defenders have to do with Criminal Defense? The Only possible answer is Defending themselsves. When you compare the lacklustre performance of Montana's Public Defenders to the stellar performance of the State, Counties and Cities legal Prosecuters (and staff), then there really is - NO Contest! It's a slam dunk for the Montana Prosecuters home team! And, meanwhile, with ALL their forgotten Lawyers Constitutional Oaths of Office to support, protect and defend Our Constitution (and Rules of Professional Conduct, no less), who among these gallant Montana lawyers IS proactively supporting, protecting or defending Montana's Constitutional rights of the poor (read indigent in the Montana Public Defender Act) in the process? Really, with these ridiculous sums ($100 Millions?) being spent on both sides of Criminality, who is minding the Constitutional Civil store in Montana?

In an article this week in the Missoula Independent News entitled "Self-defense -
State's public defender system takes the stand,
" Alex Sakariassen quotes a 66-page draft recommendation report from American University (AU) on how to improve the fledgling Montana Office of the Public Defender (OPD). In the draft the OPD is responsible for representing roughly 26,000 defendants a year in Montana. In his article, Alex quotes, Scott Crichton, executive director of the ACLU, as saying, "It's not just about defending criminals," ..."It's about defending people accused of crimes...it's about defending innocent people as well as providing good defense for guilty people, it's about saving tax dollars by having shorter pre-trial incarceration."
http://missoulanews.bigskypress.com/missoula/self-defense/Content?oid=1162302

Recently, in an August 2009 Missoulian article titled, "More than 10 percent of Montanans receiving food stamps" author and reporter JENNIFER McKEE, wrote, "Montana hit a sobering milestone in July: A record number of us, more than 100,000, are on food stamps, the federal anti-hunger program now known as the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, or SNAP. The growth represents a more than 24 percent increase since May of 2008, said Linda Snedigar, administrator of the Human and Community Services Division at the Montana Department of Public Health and Human Services. Some 100,552 people received food stamps in July, she said, representing a little more than 10 percent of the state's population." http://missoulian.com/news/state-and-regional/article_987540a2-8568-11de-9ff0-001cc4c03286.html

But, what if the Montana State Legislature or the Governor, Counties or Cities or anyone of the myriad of Montana Attorneys are disregarding or violating their Oaths to Montana's Constitution or their Rules of Professional Conduct? How much money is being spent proactively to prosecute these infringements while supporting, protecting or defending Our Constitutional Rights? Sorry, the 66 page study is mum on this issue. Ask yourself this Montana, why is the Montana OPD, limited just to defending people accused of crimes? Why are they ignoring the Civil (proactive) cases allowed in the Montana Public Defender Act? Why is the Civil (proactive) side of law being ignored in relation to Montana's poor and the Montana OPD? Who is minding the store for the poor on the Civil side of Montana Law?

As always, Think about it and I'd like to encourage your comments about this important topic. Please feel free to ask your City Councilor or Your City Attorney or Your City Employee (this could also apply to County or State) ...

Rick Gold

Missoula, MT