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The state of Illinois is one of seven states that delegates to
its county circuit court judges to provide public defense
lawyers.
Jon Mosher, of the 6th Amendment Center, said due to the way the
system is set up, there is a high possibility of a defendant not
receiving a fair trial.
"At root, the problem is that these public defenders are not
independent,” he said. “Public defense lawyers most of the time
are dependent on trial court judges for their jobs. This opens
up the possibility of receiving an unfair trial."
With Illinois delegating to its counties, Mosher says that the
state is left out of the loop on important issues such as how
many cases there are and how much these cases might cost.
Illinois is one of 7 states in the country that still uses this
system for appointing public defenders which Mosher says is a
failure to evolve.
"The state of Illinois just hasn't evolved,” Mosher said. “The
state has failed to evolve along with the basic parameters of
what the constitution requires in terms of the right to
counsel."
“Any solution must address both the independence and the
oversight that are currently absent in Illinois’ indigent
defense systems,” according to the report. “6AC’s
recommendations offer Illinois policymakers a broad framework
for establishing an independent state public defense commission
to set and enforce binding statewide standards, supported by a
central office to ensure accountability through periodic reports
on the key indicators of systemic effectiveness of right to
counsel services, including the early appointment of qualified
and training attorneys, who have sufficient time and resources
to provide effective representation under independent
supervision.”
The Illinois Trial Lawyers Association and the Illinois Public
Defender Association could not immediately be reached for
comment on the report.
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