Indigent defense reform approved by House

LANSING, MI--The following is a statement from Marcela Westrate, Executive Director of the Michigan Campaign for Justice, on the passage of bipartisan House Bill 5804 by the State House of Representatives. This legislation implements recommendations from the recently released report completed by the Governor's Advisory Commission on Indigent Defense to fix Michigan's broken indigent defense system. "The passage of House Bill 5804 is a major step forward in what has been a very, very longpush to reform the indigent defense system in Michigan. For years, problems within our system have cost taxpayers money and cost some residents years of their life as a result of being wrongfully convicted and imprisoned. "Governor Snyder was right to create a commission to address this serious problem and Representatives McMillin, Lipton and Walsh were right to take the commission's finding and turn them into this important reform legislation. "We thank the bill's sponsors and cosponsors from both sides of the aisle and look forward to working with their colleagues in the State Senate in moving this legislation to Governor Snyder's desk." Published: Thu, Nov 15, 2012

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