Funding essential — 04/02/09 » Editorials » Daily Independent (Ashland, KY)

Editorials

Discussion

April 1, 2009

Funding essential — 04/02/09

Justice can’t prevail without money for public defenders

Anonymous The Daily Independent Wed Apr 01, 2009, 06:01 PM EDT

The failure of the 2009 Kentucky General Assembly to approve $4.7 million in additional funding for the state Department of Public Advocacy demands that Gov. Steve Beshear issue an executive order providing the funds. The alternative is the possible release of hundreds of indigent inmates awaiting resolution of their cases because the state is unable to provide legal representation for them.

That obviously would put public safety at risk and is unacceptable. The failure of the recently concluded General Assembly to approve additional funding for public defenders is another example of legislators failing to do their jobs in a timely fashion and putting off too many important issues until the last minute.

For the record, both the House of Representatives and the Senate approved the additional funding, but when they failed to reach agreement on the differences between the two measures, it became one of several projects that died when Speaker Greg Stumbo refused to use the two legislative days set aside to consider vetoes by Beshear (there were none) to finalize any pending legislation. Of course, the General Assembly had plenty of time to approve the funding before then but failed to do so.

Without the additional money, Chief Public Advocate Ed Monahan said the Department of Public Advocacy will run out of money in late April or early May and be forced to close down until the start of a new fiscal year on July 1.

Stumbo says Beshear has the authority to move funds within the budget to provide money for DPA “because it’s a constitutional mandate.”

The governor seems to agree, but he is waiting for the advice of General Counsel Ellen Hessen before issuing any executive order. Hessen said Beshear is “genuinely concerned about the disruption to the criminal justice system that could occur, and he’s charged his staff to be as resourceful as we can be to avoid that.”

It would not be the first time a governor has used an executive order to do what the General Assembly failed to do. When legislators twice went home without approving a budget, both Paul Patton and Ernie Fletcher issued executive orders to prevent state government from shutting down.

We think those executive orders were unconstitutional, and the courts have indicated they agree. Money not approved by the General Assembly should not be spent.

While the legality of an executive order to fund public defenders may be challenged in court, it would at least keep the Department of Public Advocacy operating until the end of the fiscal year on June 30. That’s a better alternative than failing to meet the U.S. Supreme Court’s edict that all those charged with crimes are entitled to legal representation. If they can’t afford an attorney the courts must provide one.

Even with the additional funding, the Department of Public Advocacy is woefully underfunded. According to Teresa Whitaker, Directing Attorney for the Somerset office of the Department of Public Advocacy, public defenders in Kentucky typically handle more than 550 cases at one time.

Providing effective representation for that many clients is impossible, Whitaker admits. But with the department running out of money, there is no chance of the 55 current vacancies for public defenders being filled to ease the case load. Instead, a combination of low pay and higher caseloads is keeping attorneys from being public defenders.

With such heavy caseloads for public defenders, the status quo is unacceptable. But if the Department of Public Advocacy runs out of money and is forced to shutdown, true justice simply will be impossible to achieve in Kentucky — particularly for those who can’t afford an attorney.

Text Only

Editorials

'Asset poor'
More than one in four Kentucky households are “asset poor,” meaning that they are living from paycheck to paycheck with little or no financial cushion to fall back on should they suddenly lose their jobs or have another emergency resulting in a temporary loss of or delcine in income.

February 7, 2012
Safer mines
The head of the federal Mine Safety and Health Administration (MSHA) says coal operators throughout the country are improving their operations and, as a result, mines are becoming safer. However, MSHA chief Joe Main said too many coal operators still “don’t get it” and are continuing to cut costs by ignoring safety. That’s why MSHA plans to continue targeting mines with a history of repeated violations for additional inspections.

February 7, 2012
Not far enough
For the past three sessions of the Kentucky General Assembly, bills that would raise the minimum dropout age from 16 to 18 have been approved by the Kentucky House of Representatives by wide bipartisan margins only to die in the Senate without even a vote.
Now the Senate Education Committee has unanimously approved a dropout bill hailed as an alternative to the House bill, but it does not go nearly far enough. It is a halfway measure that would have only a limited effect on preventing teenagers from quitting high school before graduation and virtually assuring themselves of lives on the lowest rungs of the economic ladder.

February 6, 2012
Not their job
The local government committee of the Kentucky House of Representatives has wisely killed a bill — dubbed “Cooper’s Law” — that would have allowed the family of the Lexington toddler with cerebral palsy to have a playhouse on their property despite a deed restriction that apparently prohibits such structures.

February 6, 2012
Keeping FADE
Despite an increase in cost to the department, Carter County Sheriff Casey Brammell told the Carter County Fiscal Court that his department will continue to be active in the FIVCO Area Development Drug Enforcement (FADE) Task Force — at least for now.

February 4, 2012
Needed changes
The soaring enrollment that Kentucky’s community and technical colleges have experienced in recent years could come to a sudden end — or at least be slowed — as about 5,500 students in the statewide system that includes Ashalnd Community and Technical College are expected to lose their financial aid under new rules being implemented by the federal government.

February 3, 2012
Released early
While it is disappointing that 75 of the 952 prisoners granted early release in January have violated the terms of their releases, the good news is that none of the former inmates have been charged with new felonies. That’s an early, but positive, indication that the nonviolent felons released before their sentences were up have been carefully selected and are among those least likely to return to a life of crime.

February 2, 2012
Obese children
Almost a decade after former Gov. Ernie Fletcher called childhood obesity an “epidemic” in Kentucky, a majority of Kentucky adults still think that there are too many overweight children in the state and they place the bulk of the blame squarely on the shoulders of their parents.

February 1, 2012
Retiring
Dr. Gregory Adkins has served as president of Ashland Community and Technical College during a period of rapid growth and substantial changes. Adkins announced last week that he will retire June 30 after almost 11 years as the head of the school that now is located not only just off 13th Street in Ashland but also is in EastPark more than 20 miles from the Ashland campus.

January 31, 2012
Work at home
While it is not for everyone, for those with the right skills and talents, Kentucky Teleworks works. Just ask Alison Boskovic of Louisa.

January 26, 2012
More Editorials Headlines

Editorials

Search Results

Discussion

Funding essential — 04/02/09

Justice can’t prevail without money for public defenders

Site Map

Contact Us