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Howard Dean and Criminal Defendants

By Jeralyn, Section Elections
Posted on Sun Jul 13, 2003 at 11:14:32 PM EST
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Uh-oh, someone emailed us this editorial from the Rutland Herald, published on August 16, 2001, while Howard Dean was still Governor. Before commenting, we'd like to hear Dr. Dean's response. We reprint it in it's entirety:

For the Defense

Dean chose not to reappoint Appel for a third four-year term as defender general, the state official who heads the state’s public defender program. In appointing Valerio, of Proctor, the new defender general, Dean had kind words for Appel. But Appel had clashed with Dean on numerous occasions in his efforts to secure for his office the resources necessary to fulfill his duties conscientiously.

Just two years ago Dean tried to prevent Appel from accepting a $150,000 federal grant aimed at assisting defendants with mental disabilities. For Dean to block a government agency from receiving federal money was unusual in itself. But Dean’s openly expressed bias against criminal defendants provided a partial explanation.

Dean has made no secret of his belief that the justice system gives all the breaks to defendants. Consequently, during the 1990s, state’s attorneys, police, and corrections all received budget increases vastly exceeding increases enjoyed by the defender general’s office. That meant the state’s attorneys were able to round up ever increasing numbers of criminal defendants, but the public defenders were not given comparable resources to respond.

The problem with giving a disproportionate share of state resources to prosecution and enforcement is that it throws the justice system out of kilter. A just result occurs in court only when the prosecution and defense both are ably represented. Thus, Appel felt compelled two years ago to notify the court that the Rutland public defender’s office would take no new cases unless the defendant was in jail. The Rutland office was so short of staff that case backlogs threatened to overwhelm the public defenders.

Vermont is not Texas, where the public defender’s program is notorious for signing up incompetent, inebriated, or sleep-deprived lawyers for indigent clients. But lawyers who are short of resources cannot serve their clients well. Thus, Appel found himself in a bind five years ago when the court ordered him to provide expert testimony on behalf of Ruth Lizotte, a Rutland woman who was charged with murder by arson.

Appel noted that the public defender didn’t have the money to pay for expert witnesses. Thus, the burden is on the legislative and executive branches to make sure the judiciary has the resources it needs. And the judiciary includes the system as a whole — police, prosecution, defense, and courtroom personnel. Making the case for adequate funding of the criminal defense system will be one of the principal jobs of the new defender general. Valerio, an experienced criminal defense lawyer and the incoming president of the Vermont Bar Association, will owe his appointment as defender general to Dean. But he will owe it to the people of Vermont to push Dean to include in his budget adequate resources so the state’s public defenders can do their jobs.

Public defenders handle most of the criminal defense work in the state. It is a thankless task in some ways. But one of the important differences between democracies and police states is a fair justice system. Without it, police round up people and throw them in jail as a matter of routine. Law becomes, not a guarantor of justice, but a method of intimidation.

Appel has served the state well by seeking to counter the biases of the governor. Let’s hope Valerio is willing to do the same.

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