Time to Abandon Public Defender Reimbursements?

Here's an excerpted abstract of an article published in the Fall 2009 University of Michigan Journal of Law Reform. (My wife and I went to law school with the author and we all practiced law together for several years.) This will be a great resource for anyone who is thinking about challenging public defender reinbursements.


Penalizing Poverty: Making Criminal Defandants Pay For Their Court-Appointed Counsel Through Recoupment and Contribution
Helen A. Anderson

"Over thirty years ago the United States Supreme Court upheld an Oregon statute that allowed sentencing courts, with a number of important procedural safeguards, to impose on indigent criminal defendants the obligation to repay the cost of their court appointed attorneys. The practice of ordering recoupment or contribution (application fees or co-pays) of public defender attorney's fees is widespread, although collection rates are unsurprisingly low. Developments since the Court's decision in Fuller v. Oregon show that not only is recoupment not cost-effective, but it too easily becomes an aspect of punishment, rather than legitimate cost-recovery. In a number of jurisdictions, defendants are ordered to repay the cost of their attorney regardless of their ability to pay and without any notice or opportunity to be heard. Many are ordered to pay as a condition of probation or parole, which means they pay under threat of incarceration. In these jurisdictions, recoupment violates the Sixth Amendment, as well as the Due Process and Equal Protection Clauses. . . . In addition, the thirty years since Fuller have verified that recoupment is bad policy because it imposes punishing debt without real fiscal benefit. It is time to abandon practices that penalize defendants for being poor and exercising their right to counsel."

Congratulations Professor Anderson on being awarded tenure!