Hello, City Club? Can I Bang Your Gong?

Preface-

The very question, "How to improve indigent defense in our court system," itself, raises many questions.  How is indigent defense provided, now? Who's indigent? What court systems are we talking about?  What unique features of Cleveland Municipal Court and Cuyahoga County Common Pleas Court affect how indigent defense is provided?  How do we measure the soundness of the legal representation provided?  Is there a difference between the quality of representation between lawyers in private practice who are individually assigned by judges to represent the poor and lawyers who work for a governmental agency, such as the Cuyahoga County Public Defenders Office, charged with the same by way of contract with a union of lawyers?  How does the taint of corruption and politics affect the matter? And what about Naomi?

The fact is, this discussion is mandated by the Cuyahoga County Charter, and as soon as I found that out, I knew that I had to be a part of the discussion.  I have known these courtrooms since my childhood. I care deeply about the manner in which the least among us in this society are constitutionally protected, and treated with respect and dignity by a court system that has been thin on respect and dignity.

I think The City Club has a valuable role in this discussion.  First, it's attended by many respected and important people in Cleveland's legal, business and education communities, many who have no idea how bad things really are in the courtrooms of the Justice Center. I believe those individuals would find themselves engaged by the task of improving the legal system for all, in unprecedented ways.  Second, it serves as a soap box for generations of forward thinking people to change people's minds about how things are, and how things should be.

I intend nothing less then creating a model for mass indigent defense, one that breathes life into the constitutional rights of the poor, one that meaningfully segregates mentally ill and/or developmentally disabled people out of the criminal system, one that provides superlative remedies for substance abuse and addiction problems, one that maintains the presumption of innocence, the burden of proof, and the Sixth Amendment right of effective Assistance of Counsel.


Ten Ways To Improve Indigent Defense Services

The Cuyahoga County/Cleveland Metropolitan Bar Association Criminal Law Clinic
A public-private partnership, supplemental to existing indigent defense service structures, providing needs-based indigent defense in criminal matters in courtrooms across Cuyahoga County.

Joint Cooperation between Cleveland Marshall School of Law, and Case Western Reserve University School of Law to select a staff of interns, certified to practice law with supervision OF THE COUNTY LAW DIRECTOR, to assist at all levels and stages of criminal proceedings.

Regularly televised courtroom proceedings available for public review.

Tele-Justice Task Force, specifically designated to identify constitutionally questionable practices involving cameras, microphones, recording devices and telepresence technologies that impact due process, the attorney-client privilege, the constitutional guarantees of effective assistance of counsel and confrontation.

Legal Advice available to every individual arrested and booked within 3 hours.

The Preliminary Hearing/Preliminary Indigent Defense Screening/Preliminary Mental Health Screening

The immediate availability, upon request, of court reporters available to provide verbatim transcription, act as custodian of records in all criminal proceedings, and facilitate swift appellate review in indigent matters.

An appointment/assignment process free of political influence.

Minimum standards for lawyering.