A waiting list for public defenders in Missouri that forces people to wait for months or even years for lawyers is unconstitutional, a judge has ruled.
“Each day's delay in investigating for the defendant and preserving evidence accrues to the defendant's detriment, and thus a delay of weeks, much less of months or years, violates the obligation of the State to furnish counsel to ‘allow for adequate representation’ at critical stages and at trial," Cole County Circuit Judge William E. Hickle ruled, the America Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) said in a news release.
The ACLU of Missouri and the MacArthur Justice Center filed the lawsuit last year.
“Judge Hickle rightfully found that indigent defendants must be provided counsel within two weeks after being found to qualify for a state-funded attorney,” said Amy Breihan, co-director of the MacArthur Justice Center’s Missouri office, said in the ACLU news release. “In so ruling, he noted the need for an attorney’s advice in making strategic decisions, preserving evidence, and – most immediately pressing for many defendants — trying to secure release from pre-trial custody.”
Hickle found that using the waiting list was unconstitutional but gave the state legislature an opportunity to provide enough funding, starting in July, to eliminate it, the news release said.
Missouri Gov. Mike Parson recently recommended the legislature approve $820,000 for the Missouri State Public Defender's Office to pay the salaries of 12 additional attorneys.
“Before the government can take away a person's liberty, both the Missouri Constitution and the Sixth Amendment to the U.S. Constitution require that the case against the defendant be fully put to the test,” Jason Williamson, deputy director of the ACLU’s Criminal Law Reform Project, said in a statement. “That requires the adequate representation in court, which is dated by law.”
The MacArthur Justice Center declined the St. Louis Record’s request for a comment on the ruling.