 Czarnezki and Clancy By Gretchen Schuldt The Milwaukee County Board on Monday unanimously approved establishing a program to provide defense counsel to indigent defendants accused of violating county ordinances. The measure, introduced by Supervisors Joseph Czarnezki and Ryan Clancy, picked up 11 additional sponsors during Monday's meeting. They were Board Chair Marcelia Nicholson, and Supervisors Priscilla E. Coggs-Jones, Eddie Cullen, Russell Antonio Goodwin Sr., Jason Haas, Willie Johnson, Jr., Patti Logsdon, Felesia Martin, Shawn Rolland, Steven Shea, and Sequanna Taylor. Czarnezki, during the Board discussion, noted that the county put significant resources into writing tickets, prosecuting their recipients, and collecting forfeiture amounts owed. Yet defendants are expected to represent themselves in court without assistance if they cannot afford it, he said. (Full disclosure: Czarnezki is a WJI Board member.) Approving the pilot is a small thing the county can do to improve justice and equity in the county, he said. "By providing funding for legal counsel for indigent individuals, County Board members showed they believe in justice for the most vulnerable in our community," he said after the meeting. The 17-0 vote came during the County Board's deliberations on the 2022 county budget. The budget still must be approved by County Executive David Crowley.  Because county ordinance violations are considered civil and not criminal violations, poor people accused of them are not entitled to government-provided attorneys if they cannot afford to hire their own.
Clancy said ordinance forfeitures were a "tax on the poor" and that he would prefer that fewer citations be written. "It really is an inherently unfair system," he said. The attorney pilot program is "an elegant solution," he said. Under the amendment, the corporation counsel's office would seek proposals for a contract attorney to represent the defendants. The $50,000 program would be a pilot, and data would be collected to help determine if it should be continued. The program would be patterned after one operated by Legal Action of Wisconsin that provides defense lawyers for indigent defendants in Milwaukee Municipal Court, which hears cases involving city ordinances. State law mandates that people arrested for certain ordinance violations, such as controlled substance offenses or some gambling cases, have their personal and arrest information entered into the state's criminal database, where it is available to potential employers, colleges, landlords, or anyone else with the $7 fee to get it, Czarnezki said. While those who are never actually charged or who are acquitted can request that their information be removed from the database if they submit a request and their fingerprints, most people don't know how to go about doing that. A lawyer, Czarnezki said, can help clients negotiate the court process. remind them about court dates, help them with payment plans, and help get records removed from the state database.
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Milwaukee County courts: Staff, defense lawyer shortages, and recommended $3 raises for COs10/28/2021  Triggiano By Margo Kirchner
and Gretchen Schuldt The Milwaukee County court system’s biggest challenge in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic is staffing, according to Chief Judge Mary Triggiano. And while the County Board’s Finance Committee on Thursday tried to address part of the systemwide shortage by recommending a $3-per-hour raise for correction officers, the county has not addressed another shortage – that of defense lawyers to represent indigent defendants in criminal cases. Triggiano, at a recent Zoom town hall hosted by the Milwaukee Bar Association and the Wisconsin Association of Criminal Defense Attorneys, said there were shortages of deputy court clerks, court reporters, and interpreters. Meanwhile, the Sheriff’s Department has reduced staff, so courts must coordinate with that department regarding bailiffs. Triggiano asked for patience by attorneys as courts work to solve staffing issues. Tom Reed, regional attorney manager for the State Public Defender, said there also is a significant shortage of private-bar attorneys available to take SPD appointments. (Private-bar lawyers take cases when the SPD has a conflict or lacks capacity.) About 270 cases currently await appointment of counsel, he said. About 150 of those have been delayed more than 20 days, while 40 or 50 have been delayed more than 40 days. Many defendants awaiting appointment are in custody, which makes the attorney shortage a serious problem, he said. Defendants are constitutionally entitled to effective assistance of counsel. Reed attributed the shortage in part to a 35% reduction in attorneys on the appointment list as compared to two years ago. He asked attorneys on the list to take a few more cases each and for lawyers not on the list to join it. Reed also discussed how correction officer shortages at the Milwaukee County Jail and House of Correction are affecting defense attorneys. Because fewer corrections staff are available to move clients to Zoom stations, virtual meetings with defense counsel now occur only a few hours each day. Increased lockdowns may prevent clients from telephoning their attorneys when expected, making attorney-client communication even more difficult. The Finance Committee vote Thursday on the $3 “premium” pay increase is meant to make the county’s wages for correction officers more competitive with those in neighboring counties. Right now, at $20.58 per hour, Milwaukee County correction officer pay is the lowest in the region. The correction officer vacancy rate is about 27%, according to a report on the issue from county Budget Director Joe Lamers. Of 569 budgeted positions, 415 were filled and 154 were not as of the Sept. 9 payroll period. Correction officers have been forced to work extreme amounts of overtime and people incarcerated in the jail have been locked in their cells for long periods of time because of the lack of staff to supervise them, officials said. Under the committee’s recommendation, the pay hike would go to correction officers who are vaccinated for COVID-19 or who have a valid medical or religious excuse. The proposal would cost up to $941,000 this year, $4 million next year, and $5.1 million in 2023. The money would come from the county’s contingent fund this year and COVID relief funds next year. The funding source after that is not identified, leaving a possible hole in the county budget. While the county aims to make the raise permanent, it can be rolled back if necessary, Lamers said. Others in the justice system also are advocating for additional money. Several defense attorneys at the Zoom meeting pointed to the low rate of pay for private-bar attorneys as the primary obstacle in getting lawyers to take indigent clients. Even though the hourly rate for SPD-appointed lawyers increased from $40 to $70 a couple years ago, that amount is still too low, they said. The $70 must cover wages and attorneys’ overhead, including office space, utilities, staff, and insurance. Several attorneys expressed confidence that if the rate rose to $150, $120, or even $100, more attorneys would accept cases. One attorney said that the $70 rate is “insulting” because appointments in civil cases are paid at $100 per hour and the federal criminal-defense rate is $155 per hour. Czarnezki and Clancy By Gretchen Schuldt
A Milwaukee County Board committee on Tuesday unanimously recommended establishing a program to provide defense counsel to indigent defendants accused of violating county ordinances. The county pays for sheriff's deputies to write tickets, lawyers to prosecute the cases, and agencies to collect overdue payments of forfeitures levied as a result, Supervisor Joseph Czarnezki, a sponsor of the measure, told the Finance Committee. (Full disclosure: Czarnezki is a WJI Board member.) Yet defendants are expected to represent themselves, even if they don't understand what is going on in the courtroom or how to proceed. "This is not what I would call justice," Czarnezki said. Under the proposed 2022 budget amendment, co-sponsored by Supervisor Ryan Clancy, the corporation counsel's office would seek proposals for a contract attorney to represent the defendants. The $50,000 program would be a pilot, and data would be collected to help determine if it should be continued. The program would be patterned after one operated by Legal Action of Wisconsin that provides defense lawyers for indigent defendants in Milwaukee Municipal Court, which hears cases involving city ordinances. While indigent defendants in criminal cases are provided with publicly-funded lawyers, poor people accused of ordinance violations are not provided with lawyers because the violations are considered civil, not criminal, matters. Generally, those wanting legal representation ordinance cases must hire their own lawyers. State law mandates that people arrested for certain ordinance violations, such as controlled substance offenses or some gambling cases, have their personal and arrest information entered into the state's criminal database, where it is available to potential employers, colleges, landlords, or anyone else with the $7 fee to get it, Czarnezki said. While those who are never actually charged or who are acquitted can request that their information be removed from the database, most people don't know how to go about doing that. A lawyer, Czarnezki said, can help clients negotiate the court process. remind them about court dates, help them with payment plans, and help get records removed from the state database. As a matter of equity, he said, "I think this is something we should do." Clancy, who sponsored unsuccessful measures to reallocate some Sheriff's Department funding, said that having fewer deputies making arrests would be best, but the attorney resolution is "the second-best way to go." |
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The Wisconsin Justice Initiative Inc. does not endorse candidates for political office. The Wisconsin Justice Initiative Inc. is a 501(c)3 organization.
The Wisconsin Justice Initiative Inc. does not endorse candidates for political office. The Wisconsin Justice Initiative Inc. is a 501(c)3 organization.