Public defender reforms promise a fairer kind of democracy

Last month, the state of Illinois took the first step in over 70 years to fix an under-funded and resource-starved public defense system when the Illinois House of Representatives passed the Funded Advocacy & Independent Representation (FAIR) Act.

While other states are facing sweeping lawsuits or releasing accused people from jail due to a failure to provide public defenders to poor people who can’t afford an attorney, Illinois is moving in the other direction by working to establish a robust public defender system statewide. Thanks to the leadership and sponsorship of Rep. Dave Vella, a former public defender in Winnebago County who saw firsthand how broken the system is, the FAIR Act is now being considered by the Illinois Senate.

As a former assistant public defender in Kankakee County, I applaud the House for recognizing and addressing what has been painfully obvious to many for too long: for decades, public defenders in Illinois have worked too many cases at once with inadequate budgets and little-to-no support staff or administrative support. Individuals’ Sixth Amendment rights are at risk because of it.

As a religious and community leader in Rockford who runs a legal clinic, I urge lawmakers to continue working to perfect this important piece of legislation and establish a system that not only reflects national standards but also restores the community’s trust in the United States Constitution and the Illinois court system.

The FAIR Act, HB3363, promises meaningful reform. It creates a statewide public defender office to collect data, establish caseload standards, and provide resources to smaller jurisdictions that struggle with attorney recruitment and retention.

But there is more at stake here than the rights of individuals facing criminal charges and, ultimately, the loss of their freedom. The sustained failure to provide adequate resources to public defenders, and the resulting unjust outcomes, has been witnessed over and over in communities across this state. This has eroded confidence that public defenders are independent from the very system that charges and convicts people, the prosecutor and judiciary.

That means that restoring trust will require that Illinois’ new state public defense system solve for even the appearance of conflicts of interest. Under the current system in 101 of 102 counties, circuit judges are directly involved in the appointment and removal of chief public defenders and selection of contract public defenders. It is only reasonable that clients of those defenders perceive the unfair position that places attorneys in, as they are forced to balance their own employment with their vigorous advocacy for each individual.

But there is another way. The FAIR Act establishes a state commission to facilitate appointment of public defenders across this state. This approach is endorsed by national legal professional organizations because it makes plain sense: The branch of government that administers trials and hands down punishment to those who are convicted should not be in the business of appointing or removing people responsible for one side in a legal fight. The system cannot afford even the suggestion that judges and attorneys for the accused are operating in concert.

The passage of the FAIR Act in the Illinois House was a strong statement about the need to support Illinois public defenders who are crushed by caseloads and struggling to ensure the rights of their clients are protected.

As we move into the next stage of passing the FAIR Act, the legislature must prioritize independence for public defenders. Their constituents have lost too much trust already. It is time to restore confidence in the courts by ensuring our adversarial system works reliably and produces valid results.

I want to live in a certain type of democracy, one in which the U.S. Constitution is not merely a fairy tale, but the foundation of an equal and fair society where the rights of the poor matter just as much as those with wealth.

• Dr. K. Edward Copeland is the lead pastor at New Zion Baptist Church in Rockford and former assistant public defender in Kankakee County.