As conservatives increasingly turn their eyes to criminal justice reform, a Wednesday Senate Judiciary Committee hearing saw Republicans tackling how to ensure the right to counsel for poor defendants charged with misdemeanors.
The Marshall Project called this a “first-of-its-kind” hearing.
Conservative solutions to the problem of providing adequate counsel are varied: some favor giving out vouchers, which would improve defense for the indigent by introducing an element of competition. Others argue the best way to solve the problem is to simply reduce overcriminalization.
Marc Levin of Right on Crime–one of the most frequently cited authorities on conservative justice reform–told the Marshall Project, “When a judge or someone else acting on behalf of the government selects the attorney, we cannot be confident that there is the fidelity and independence that should characterize the attorney-client relationship. This can be accomplished through “Gideon vouchers” whereby defendants can choose from a list of qualified attorneys maintained by the local bar or another entity, which can ensure caseloads are reasonable.”
“Attorneys representing those who are indigent should have adequate resources to investigate and litigate the case, but one way to accomplish this is to reduce the total number of cases that result in the provision of taxpayer-funded counsel,” he said.
The Koch brothers, who have made criminal justice reform a priority this year, have given a “major grant” to the National Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers (NACDL) to help provide indigent defense.
In a Politico op-ed earlier this year, Charles Koch and Mark Holden–General Counsel for Koch Industries–wrote, “…we must ensure that all those charged with a crime receive their Sixth Amendment right to representation by a lawyer. Inadequate or no legal representation results in devastating consequences for criminal defendants and their families.”
