Missouri's public defender system budget "is shockingly inadequate," a new lawsuit charges, accusing the state of failing "to provide the resources required to adequately represent poor people accused of crimes in Missouri" for more than two decades.
The American Civil Liberties Union and the ACLU of Missouri filed the lawsuit Thursday in the Cole County Circuit Court, and it was assigned to Presiding Circuit Judge Pat Joyce.
The lawsuit also was filed by the Solange MacArthur Justice Center at St. Louis and the Orrick, Herrington & Sutcliffe law firm.
No hearings have been scheduled yet.
The 53-page lawsuit claims the state government's failure to "meet its constitutional obligation to provide indigent defendants with meaningful representation" has led to the "actual and constructive denial of counsel for, and ineffective representation of, indigent defendants across the State."
Among other things, the lawsuit asks the court to require the state "to propose and implement (a) plan to ensure that all indigent criminal defendants and juvenile respondents in the State of Missouri are provided with constitutionally adequate legal representation" by the state Public Defender System (MSPD).
Defendants in the lawsuit are Gov. Eric Greitens, State Public Defender Michael Barrett and the Public Defender Commission.
In a news release announcing the lawsuit, the ACLU said the system employs approximately 370 attorneys statewide.
The lawsuit told the court: "Despite the best efforts of MSPD's dedicated attorneys and support staff, MSPD's crushing workloads result in indigent defendants throughout this state being actually or constructively denied their right to counsel at critical stages of their cases.
"Indigent defendants are frequently denied any representation whatsoever at arraignments and other initial hearings, leaving them to fend for themselves when bond determinations and other critical decisions are made."
However, Barrett told the News Tribune: "The public defender needs twice its number of attorneys to handle the more than 80,000 cases that it is constitutionally responsible for each year.
"I've done everything short of setting myself on fire to draw attention to the situation that the state has put us in - that poor persons in this state, including poor children, are being pushed through the criminal justice system, fined excessively, and deprived of their liberty, without receiving the benefit of an attorney who has the necessary time to look into their case."
The lawsuit alleges - and Barrett has said for months - Missouri ranks 49th out of the 50 states in per capita spending for indigent defendants.
"Despite their claims of support for liberty and against big government," Barrett said, "the state has chosen to neglect an indigent defense system that ranks 49th in the U.S. while enthusiastically spending more than a $100 million in new money on incarcerating the very citizens who were deprived of their right to counsel."
When Gov. Jay Nixon last July withheld $3.5 million from the Public Defender System's 2016-17 budget, Barrett ordered Nixon to serve as a public defender in a Cole County criminal case, arguing state law gave him the authority to "delegate the legal representation of any person to any member of the state bar of Missouri."
However, Joyce last August ruled "only the courts have the power to appoint lawyers."
Barrett also sued Nixon over the withholding, but Cole County Circuit Judge Jon Beetem ruled in November that the governor "has the constitutional authority to withhold the money."
That ruling has been appealed to the Missouri Supreme Court, but no hearing date has been set in the case.
The ACLU's lawsuit began with the argument "more than 50 years ago, the (U.S.) Supreme Court held that the United States Constitution requires every State to provide counsel for criminal defendants who are unable to afford an attorney. As the Supreme Court has since explained, 'Lawyers in criminal cases are necessities, not luxuries. Without counsel, the right to a trial itself would be of little avail.'"
The new lawsuit added, "The constitutional right to counsel is not merely the right to a warm body licensed to practice law at one's side once trial begins."
That's where the state's system is failing, the lawsuit claims.
"Without sufficient funding, overstretched and under-resourced Missouri State Public Defender attorneys are forced to handle far too many cases and to devote far too few hours to each case," the lawsuit explains.
"Public defenders average just 8.7 hours on the most serious non-homicide felonies, amounting to less than 20 percent of the minimum time recommended by the American Bar Association (ABA). Overall, they are forced to devote fewer than the minimum hours recommended by the ABA in more than 97 percent of their cases."
In the summary of his proposed budget for the 2017-18 business year that begins July 1, Greitens said he restored $2.5 million that had been "restricted by the previous administration, which will provide caseload relief for the public defender system."
Attorney General Josh Hawley's office said their policy - like their predecessors - is not to comment on pending litigation.
Greitens' office did not respond to a request for comment for this story.
Barrett said, "The state has very few constitutional obligations, but it has instead focused on adding state parks, increasing salaries for judges, and forming committees and task forces to study ad nauseam what we already know. It's time for some leadership."