LANSING, Mich. (Michigan News Source) – The State Bar of Michigan and ACLU of Michigan joined 11 other organizations in signing an open letter to the Michigan Senate, calling for the legislature to pass a bill that would provide the same quality legal defense for financially challenged juveniles as for adults.
“For nearly sixty years, the U.S. Supreme Court has recognized that children have a constitutional right to counsel in delinquency proceedings,” the letter stated. “Unfortunately, today, that right remains an unfulfilled promise in Michigan to the great detriment of far too many children.”
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House Bill 4630 was one of twenty bills in a package based on recommendations from the Michigan Task Force on Juvenile Justice Reform, which found that “Michigan has no centralized structure and minimal standards, supports, or resources for juvenile public defense” due to lack of statewide funding.
Nineteen of the twenty bills included in the package made it to Governor Whitmer’s desk and were signed into law. Only HB 4630, which would allow juvenile offenders unable to provide their own legal counsel to access trained professionals meeting at least minimal standards set by the Michigan Indigent Defense Commission. The law already provides this service to adult offenders.
HB 4630 was given a third reading but failed to advance before the Michigan Senate went on break in November. The ACLU and other signatories to the open letter are calling for the Senate to prioritize advancing the bill when it reconvenes in January.
The full list of organizations named in the open letter includes the State Bar of Michigan, ACLU of Michigan, the State Appellate Defender Office, The Gault Center, the Michigan Center for Youth Justice, Safe and Just Michigan, Criminal Defense Attorneys of Michigan, the Michigan Catholic Conference, the Michigan League for Public Policy, the Detroit Justice Center, Michigan Liberation, the Michigan Collaborative to End Mass Incarceration, and MOSES.
The open letter is available here through ACLU’s website.
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