Snyder signs into law indigent defense reforms
Gov. Rick Snyder has signed legislation to improve indigent defense in Michigan.
He said the legislation will enable and set statewide standards and accountability measures for public defense attorneys representing indigent criminal defendants and create a uniform process to verify that all counties meet the standards.
“Every citizen has a right to competent legal counsel, regardless of the ability to pay,” he said as he signed the measures on Monday. “That is the meaning of ‘justice for all.’
“For too long in Michigan, many indigent defendants have not received the level of legal representation that they deserve. Today, we’re taking action to fix that problem and improve the state’s public defense system, upholding our Constitutional responsibility to the accused and their families and ensuring justice and public safety as well accountability to taxpayers.”
A commission created by the law will be housed within the judicial branch and comprised of 15 members named by the governor with recommendation of the Legislature, Supreme Court and the state Bar, representing interests from the criminal justice system.
Among other things, the commission will be charged with collecting and compiling data necessary for the review of indigent defense services, creating standards to ensure all systems providing indigent defense meet constitutional obligations for effective assistance of counsel and submitting for approval any new standards to the state Supreme Court.
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Clerk’s mobile office schedules Warren stop
Warren residents will have the chance next week to access services offered by the Macomb County Clerk’s Office without traveling to the county seat in Mount Clemens.
Clerk Carmella Sabaugh’s mobile office will be at the Warren Civic Center, 1 City Square, off of Van Dyke just North of 12 Mile Road, from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m., Wednesday, July 10.
Residents can get help with birth and death certificates, business registrations, marriage licenses, notary public applications, circuit court records, voter registration, concealed pistol license applications, veteran photo ID cards and real estate deed requests.
Only Macomb County records are available. Fees are:
For additional information on services or to see upcoming mobile office locations, visit the Clerk’s web site at www.macombgov.org/clerksoffice.
For additional information, call 586.469.5205.
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Judge won’t toss ACLU’s lawsuit
HIGHLAND PARK (AP) — A judge has refused to dismiss a lawsuit that accuses the state of Michigan of failing to improve the reading skills of students in a poor urban district.
The American Civil Liberties Union says the state and the emergency manager running Highland Park schools are violating a law that requires additional assistance for students who are not reading at the appropriate level in certain grades.
The state says it’s immune to a lawsuit, but Wayne County Judge Marvin Stempien disagreed last Thursday and set a trial date for July 22.
The ACLU is seeking highly trained teachers in Highland Park and new books.
The group says more than 70 percent of students in fourth and seventh grades need special instruction.
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