A budget crisis looms in Wisconsin and many other states. We applaud an editorial today in the Racine Journal Times that exposes the denial of legal representation to those below the poverty line, and relying upon the Constitution, pleads with the legistature to change the rules.

....The governor and the Legislature must also find a way to correct an evergrowing injustice in our obligation to defend the indigent.

When we have come to the point where poverty equals a guilty plea and a conviction, that is simply not justice at all.

That may well be the case in Wisconsin today because the state has not adjusted the poverty guidelines on who qualifies for public defender assistance for a decade and a half.

That means a single person who makes a mere $3,000 a year doesn't qualify for state-funded assistance -- even though that figure is a third of the federal poverty level.

You really have to be a pauper to fall below the state's guidelines, which were pegged to 80 percent of the poverty level in 1987 and have not changed since.

Some contend it's an oversight. Perhaps it started that way but it has grown much larger than that and now undermines the basic rights of our citizens -- yes, the poor are still citizens -- to legal representation in a court of law.

That right is granted in the U.S. Constitution.

....It's a matter of money, but more than that, it's a matter of equal justice. The state must do what's right, even if it adds to our budget woes.

The editorial correctly points out that groups such as the ACLU will file suit if changes are not made. Last month in Michigan, the principal legal groups that represent poor defendants in the Detroit area sued the Chief Judges of the Wayne County Circuit Court to seek adequate compensation for their services. The suit is one of several reform projects being pursued in trouble spots around the country by the Indigent Defense Committee of the National Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers.

Thanks to Pete Karas of Progressive Racine for sending us the link. Pete is also a major source for updates on the Racine Rave Raids and the Wisconsin green party. We hope he signed up with Daily Kos to be a part of his new state legislative action blog which should be up and running after the first of the year.