I was honored that House Speaker Bolger asked me to serve on the Commission.  As a fiscal conservative, I strongly believe that trying to ensure equal justice for our citizens is one of the few things government should do.  We are talking about taking away our citizens' freedom.  Conservatives tend to get pigeon-holed into being strictly anti-criminal-defense, but the fact of the matter is, we're strictly pro-Constitution.  

The Sixth Amendment to the Constitution of the United States grants every resident accused of a crime the right to an effective public defense, even if that resident cannot afford an attorney.  Just like protecting freedom of speech, religion and the right to bear arms, the right to an adequate defense is enshrined in the Bill of Rights and a fundamental duty of our government.  Effective prosecution and defense representation are each essential to a working, fair and constitutional justice system in Michigan.

Since October the Commission has had numerous meetings and what we are learning is unsettling and unacceptable.  

We recently heard directly from one of the men who was falsely imprisoned in large part because of the failure of our state's system of protecting his Constitutional right to effective defense.  In 1990, after a 45 minute trial, 21 year old David Tucker was convicted of assaulting his manager at work despite serious problems with the prosecution's case that would have been easily picked apart by a competent defense.  

Tucker spent six years in prison before a federal court vacated his conviction, set him free and all charges were dropped.  Hearing Tucker tell his story, I was struck by exactly how important it is that we uphold the Constitution.  These are real people and real injustice.

Bottom line, in Michigan our Constitutionally-mandated public defense system is failing in some areas of the state.  The system is failing Michigan families, it is failing Michigan taxpayers and it is failing to live up to the Michigan Constitution and the Constitution of the United States.  There exist dozens of different indigent defense systems in our 83 counties.  The type of justice a citizen who is unable to afford an attorney receives varies greatly depending on the county in which he is accused.

While the Commission will continue to meet through July, it is already abundantly clear that change will have to happen.

Every single one of our Constitutional rights is important.  Failing to uphold the United States' Constitution's 6th Amendment right to effective counsel wastes tax dollars, puts public safety at risk and is just plain unfair.  Michigan is going to have to do better.  Stay tuned.