Michigan News/Editorials/Press Releases


Links in this section are archival, predating 2006. For more recent materials, see www.michigancampaignforjustice.org/news_coverage.php

Michigan Lawyers Weekly:

"Changes likely for struggling indigent defense system," Michigan Lawyers Weekly, September 25, 2006.

"Press conference focuses attention on criminal defense system," Michigan Lawyers Weekly, October 2, 2006

"Indigent Criminal Services Strained by Underfunding," Michigan Lawyers Weekly, February 28, 2005


Criminal Defense Newsletter:

Attorney Fees and Public Defense System - vol. 25, no. 9, June, 2002

Attorney Fees: Federal and State Activity - vol. 25, no. 8, May, 2002

Michigan: 48th in the Country in Assigned Counsel Fees - vol. 25, no. 3, December, 2001

Lawyers Set to Take Action Against Low Fees - vol. 25, no. 2, November, 2001

Trial Assigned Counsel Fees By Circuit - vol. 24, no. 9, June, 2001

Reimbursement or Contribution: An Indigent's Assumption of Counsel Costs - vol. 24, nos. 6-7, March - April, 2001

From Other States: Alabama Attorney Fees Increase - vol. 22, no. 12, September, 1999

Reno Sets Tone for Collaboration - vol. 22, nos. 7-8, April - May, 1999

Hyde Amendment Applied in Western District Prosecution: Attorney Fees Awarded to Defense Counsel, v. 22, no. 3, December, 1998

Michigan Trial Assigned Counsel Fees, Part 2, vol. 21, no. 12, September, 1998

Michigan Trial Assigned Counsel Fees, Part 1, vol. 21, nos. 10-11, July - August, 1998

Michigan Appellate Assigned Counsel Fees August, 1997 - vol. 21, nos. 7-8, April - May, 1997

Low-Bid Criminal Defense Contracting: Justice in Retreat - vol. 21, no. 6, March, 1998

Attorney Fees: A Very Interesting Discussion - vol. 20, no. 5, February, 1997

Attorney Fees Inadequate in Maryland - vol. 20, no. 5, December, 1996

Attorney Fees: New York Judge Awards Overhead to Avoid Low Fee Schedule - vol. 20, no. 2, November, 1996

New Wayne Fee Schedule Both Graduated and Event-Based - vol. 17, no. 3, December, 1993

Court Denies Relief in Remaining Fee Cases - vol. 17, no. 1, October, 1993

Fee Decisions Released: Questions Remain - vol. 16, no. 11, August, 1993

Supreme Court Agrees to Hear Fee Cases - vol. 15, no. 10, July 1992

Costs: The Plot Thickens, vol. 15, no. 1, October, 1991

Assigned Counsel Fee Cases Pending in the Michigan Supreme Court - vol. 14, no. 8, June, 1991

Hearings Continue in Attorney Fee Case, vol. 13, no. 5, February, 1990

Wayne Fee Case Gets Master - vol. 13, no. 3, December, 1989

Attorney Fees Rise in Muskegon - vol. 13, no. 3, December, 1989


Detroit News

Lawyers Sue Court for Raise, Detroit News, November 12, 2002


Detroit Free Press

"Low Pay Buys Only Injustice for Poor Defendants," editorial, Detroit Free Press, November 12, 2002

"Serious on Lloyd Case, lack of Resources for Indigent Criminal Defense," letter to editor from CDAM President, F. Martin Tieber.


News Releases

Jill Price, CDAM President open letter to Defense Bar, September 7, 2006.

NACDL News Release, Indigent Defense in Crisis - Nationally and in Michigan, August 29, 2005.

Michigan's Patricia Maceroni resigns from appellate assigned counsel roster in Macomb County, citing "appalling" hourly rate of $25, July 20, 2006.

NACDL Urges Louisiana and Michigan to Review Montana's Example and Pass Indigent Defense Reform, June 8, 2005.

Lawsuit Asks Michigan Supreme Court to Take Superintending Control of Wayne County Circuit Court, Wayne County Criminal Defense Bar Association, November 11, 2002.

20-Year Compensation Impasse Nearing an End for Wayne County Defense Attorneys, Wayne County Criminal Defense Bar Association, May 28, 2002.


Michigan Bar Journal

"Supreme Court Improves State's Indigent Defense System," by Dawn Childress and Anne Boomer, September, 2006.

"Indigent Criminal Defense Systems in the State of Michigan-A Time for Evaluation and Action, by Thomas W. Cranmer, February, 2006.

"What if you couldn't afford Perry Mason?," Nancy Diehl, November, 2004.

"It's a Crime: Michigan's system of compensation for criminal defense of the indigent is inadequate," Bruce Neckers, January, 2002.

Balancing the Scales of Justice: Training and Support Services for Appointed Criminal Defense Lawyers, F. Randall Karfonta, February, 1992.

Criminal Defense Services for Indigents: A Prosecution View, James L. Shonkwiler, February, 1992.


Other Media

Rich and poor deserve justice, Livingston Daily, October 5, 2006.

Public defenders face budget ax, Livingston Daily, September 21, 2006.

State not ensuring right of accused to effective counsel, Flint Journal (Opinion), March 19, 2007.

State public defenders finding poor, panel warns, Ann Arbor News, September 18, 2006.

Innocence Project co-founder addresses State Bar meeting, Detroit Legal News, September 29, 2006.

Michigan Public Defense Reform Movement

The Michigan Campaign for Justice, a 501(c)(4) non-profit organization, is a broad-based group of organizations and individuals from across the political spectrum fighting for a fair and effective public defense system in Michigan. See www.micampaignforjustice.org.

The Michigan Public Defense Task Force, founded in 2001, is comprised of criminal and juvenile justice professionals, as well as concerned citizens from all walks of life, working to secure a legislative solution to Michigan's critically ill defense services system. See www.mipublicdefense.org.

The State Bar of Michigan, the professional association to which all Michigan attorneys must belong, endorsed in 2005 the Eleven Principles of a Public Defense System. The Bar's Committee on Assigned Counsel Standards developed Standards for [Trial Level] Assigned Counsel, August 17, 1996. The Bar's Representative Assembly declined to adopt them, April 26, 1997. See also www.michbar.org/publicpolicy

The Michigan Legislature adopted in 2006 Senate Concurrent Resolution No. 39, calling for study of Michigan's public defense system by the National Legal Aid and Defender Association (NLADA).

Michigan Attorney Fee Resources

Fee issues include not only the amount paid to assigned counsel, but fees for investigators and expert witnesses.

A variety of resources are available to all, including sample pleadings, at www.sado.org/litigation.htm.

The Criminal Defense Attorneys of Michigan (CDAM) has a Task Force on Fees that can provide support to attorneys who are litigating fee issues. See www.cdam.net

Subscribers to CDRC web services have online access to resources, including:

Defender Trial Book, Chapter 4: Counsel Compensation

Defender Motion Book, Chapter 4: Motion for Attorney Fees and Expenses, and Chapter 5: Motion for Appointment of Investigator

Brief Bank, appellate pleadings: Counsel--Compensation

Forum archive: messages on attorney fees

Bromgard v Montana

Bromgard Newsletter Reports, Source: Innocence Project and NACDL's The Champion, January/February, 2003

Complaint, September, 2004

"Bromgard Suit Blames Defender System," Billings Gazette, December 26, 2007

Bromgard Court Findings, January, 2008

"Bromgard Settles with State for $3.5 M", Billings Gazette, January 12, 2007

National Reports and Studies

ABA Formal Opinion 06-441, Ethical Obligations of Lawyers Who Represent Indigent Criminal Defendants When Excessive Caseloads Interfere, May 13, 2006.

ABA Report on Gideon's Broken Promise, nationwide, 2004, and an ABA web site including an interactive map describing each state's system.

ABA Report on Use of Contracts for Defense Services, opposing contracts awarded on basis of cost alone, 1985

ABA "Ten Principles of a Public Defense Delivery System," adopted by ABA House of Delegates, February 5, 2002

Americans Consider Indigent Defense: Analysis of a National Study of Public Opinion, January, 2002

Assigned Counsel Policies adopted by the National Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers, May, 1997. Eight goals to guide NACDL, focusing on basic constitutional principles including the right of indigent defendants to quality representation.

Expenditures for Indigent Defense Services, all states, 2002; Spangenberg Group.

Indigent Defense Services in Large Counties, 1999, Bureau of Justice Statistics Bulletin.

Guidelines for Negotiating and Awarding Governmental Contracts for Criminal Defense Services, containing guidelines on caseloads, compensation, support services and contract administration, National Legal Aid and Defender Association, 1984.

Index of National, State and Local Standards and Guidelines relating to Administration of Defense Services, Spangenberg Group, 1997.

Making the Case: Therapeutic Jurisprudence and Problem Solving Practices Positively Impact Clients, Justice Systems and Communites They Serve, Cait Clark and James Neuhard, Spring, 2005, published 17 St. Thomas L. Rev. 781.

Model Contract for Public Defense Services, National Legal Aid and Defender Association, 2000

Performance Guidelines for Criminal Defense Representation, National Legal Aid and Defender Association, 1995.

The Price of Justice: Money, Fairness and the Right to Counsel, Analysis of Focus Groups on Indigent Defense conducted for the Open Society Institute and the National Legal Aid and Defender Association, by Belden Russonello & Stewart, September, 2000.

Rates of Compensation for Court-Appointed Counsel in Non-Capital Felonies at Trial, Spangenberg Group, July, 2002.

Rates of Compensation Paid to Court-Appointed Counsel in Non-Capital Felony Cases at Trial: A State By State Overview, Spangenberg Group, October, 2002.

Report of the Indigent Defense Focus Group of the Office of Justice Programs and Bureau of Justice Assistance, November, 1997. Group reported a "strong consensus" that indigent defense has not received its "fair share" of funding when compared to other components of the justice system.

National News Articles / Editorials / Press Releases
Indigent Defense

ABA Commission on Effective Criminal Sanctions (policy recommendations on community-based alternatives to incarceration, access to criminal history information, and more), adopted by ABA House of Delegates, February 12, 2007.

Competent Lawyers and Constant Vigilance, Remarks of U.S. Attorney General Janet Reno at the 2000 National Symposium on Indigent Defense, Volume 4, Number 2, October/November, 2000.

Improving Criminal Justice Systems Through Expanded Strategies and Innovative Collaborations, Report of the 1999 National Symposium on Indigent Defense, published March, 2000, Volume 4, Number 2, October/November, 2000.


National Law Journal

Indigent Defense Services Blasted, by Leonard Post, July 12, 2004.,/p>

USA Today

8 years in a Louisiana jail, but he never went to trial, USA Today, August 29, 2005.