One of the major issues facing Georgia lawmakers during the 2008 session of the General Assembly is the future of the state’s public defender system.          

Media coverage of the Brian Nichols case in Fulton County has shocked Georgians with revelations of mismanagement and exorbitant costs. Nichols is charged with four counts of murder in the Fulton County Courthouse shootings of March, 2005.          

Almost three years and almost $2 million later, not a single juror has been chosen for trial and the case remains pending.         

The Nichols case has truly put on trial the public defender system which was created in 2003 and funded in 2004 in Georgia. At the outset, the new public defender system was designed to bring uniformity and higher standards to providing legal defenses for indigent persons. It was designed simply to fulfill the state’s obligation under the United States Constitution to guarantee adequate representation to anyone charged with a crime which carried the possibility of incarceration.          

The Nichols case and others indicate that the system has run off the track in a short period of time.          

Each year since its creation, the state agency running the public defender program has come to the General Assembly complaining of budget shortfalls and seeking more and more money. The Nichols case has only made worse an already strained situation. 

This year, lawmakers have said enough is enough.
 
Lawmakers agree generally that it is too early to scrap the program entirely. But they also agree that changes are needed now. 

I have introduced a comprehensive set of reforms designed to bring greater accountability and better management to the public defender program. 

First of all, county governments will have increased representation on both the local and state councils governing the program. These local governments bear much of the expense of providing indigent defense with little or no input. This measure is aimed at curing this problem.          

Secondly, the bill would limit the number of attorneys in indigent cases and the amount which could be paid. We are determined that no more blank checks be issued such as in the Nichols case.         

Finally, the bill would prohibit senior judges from presiding over death penalty cases. These cases could only be handled by judges elected by the people.         

Georgians have a right to expect that this program be operated efficiently and reasonably. These common sense measures, and the others in this reform plan, will promote accountability and better management.          

However, our law must recognize that an adequate defense does not mean the best that money can afford. It must be sufficient to meet constitutional standards. That is the only thing we should ask of our taxpayers.