LOS ANGELES – The Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors voted Tuesday to eliminate a $50 upfront fee charged to defendants who need a public defender to represent them in court.
Supervisors Sheila Kuehl and Mark Ridley-Thomas recommended doing away with the charge, saying it can be a burden for some indigent defendants and keeps some individuals from trying to retain an attorney at all.
“It is a bar, honestly, to the kind of defense that the Constitution had in mind,” Kuehl said.
The change comes as advocates of criminal justice reform focus on the detrimental effect of a host of court fees on the poorest defendants.
“While $50 may not seem like much to us, it can be a tank of gas to get to work, a utility bill gone unpaid or even food on the table,” said Bruce Brodie of the Alternate Public Defender’s Office, which he said has long opted not to request payment of the fee.
Those in favor of eliminating the fee said it can have especially dramatic consequences for non-citizens.
“Even some misdemeanors can lead to deportation,” said Devon Porter, an attorney with the American Civil Liberties Union of Southern California.
The Public Defender’s Office supports eliminating the fee, Assistant Public Defender Candace Glover told the board. Trying to ask for $50 during a brief and intense interview at arraignment confuses clients, creates distrust and is a poor use of limited time, Glover said.
Kim McGill of the Youth Justice Coalition agreed.
“When you get a public defender, of course, you assume that it’s free,” McGill said, adding that the upfront request for money causes defendants to question “who’s really on your side?”
Supervisor Kathryn Barger said she didn’t object to eliminating the fee for those who can’t afford it but said she wanted to make sure it was collected from those who can.
“I just have concerns about backing out of revenue that could be generated,” Barger said.
“The vast majority of our clientele cannot afford to pay it,” Glover responded.
The agency that collects the fees retains 11 percent. The annual amount paid to the Public Defender’s Office last year totaled roughly $300,000, or less than two-tenths of 1 percent of the agency’s budget, according to board documents.
“The small amount that’s collected is really not worth it to the county when compared to the potential bar that it represents,” Kuehl said.
The registration fee is just one of several fees and fines that may be charged to a defendant if convicted. Those totals can be difficult to pay, especially when penalties are added. The unpaid debt can impact credit ratings and hurt an individual’s ability to rent an apartment or otherwise reclaim their life after serving a criminal sentence.
The ACLU of Southern California issued a report Tuesday calling for fees to be eliminated statewide.
“The registration fees are part of a larger system of court fees that attempt to fund the courts on the backs of those who are least able to afford it,” ACLU attorney Michael Kaufman said.
The board’s vote was 4-1, with Barger casting the dissenting vote.
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Sandrta says
In 1966, the U.S. Supreme Court decided the historic case of Miranda v. Arizona, declaring that whenever a person is taken into police custody, before being questioned he or she must be told of the Fifth Amendment right not to make any self-incriminating statements. As a result of Miranda, anyone in police custody must be told four things before being questioned:
You have the right to remain silent.
Anything you say can and will be used against you in a court of law.
You have the right to an attorney.
If you cannot afford an attorney, one will be appointed for you.
I don’t know where they got off charging for an attorney in the first place.
William says
Michael a otnisky
Life isn’t fair. You will either come to terms with that or not. The universe doesn’t care.
So, where did you move to? Afraid to say? Alabama? Mississippi? South Carolina? No, not Idaho. You’ll run into Falco and AV’er there and they’ll drive you nuts with their whining.
Ol’ Mitt Romney could live anywhere, yet he bought a home in California a couple years ago. What does he know that you don’t?
Alice says
… translation of headline, into meaningful information: “EXTRA! EXTRA! READ ALL ABOUT IT! Free legal advocacy, for illegal immigrants in Mexifornia!” –
Laughing says
Also all of the unemployed homeless (including veterans), and those underemployed folks.
You may not see them but they do exist in the same world as all of those terrible terrible immigrants (every family had an immigrant somewhere in the history).
Tim Scott says
So…this is a translation from English into Idiotese? Since clearly you get information from idiot sources that use terms like “mexifornia” I’ll assume you have not the first clue regarding the constitution and make this very simple.
EVERYONE has a right to counsel when accused of a crime in a court in the United States. NO ONE is expected to choose between having to pay for such counsel or pay for food or any other commodity, because forcing that choice upon them effectively DENIES RIGHT TO COUNSEL. Even people who have plenty of money have the opportunity to say “I’d rather buy a car wash for my Rolls Royce than pay for counsel.”
The fact that our local courts have tried to get away with “you aren’t paying for counsel, it’s just a registration fee” was a money maker that tried to skirt the constitution, they got caught, and they stopped. Period. This has nothing to do with your dingbat raving about immigration. So get over it.
Michael a otnisky says
Let me see if I read this right…if I have a job I have to pay but if I am an illegal immigrant, on government assistance, I do not have to pay…boy, I did not know that so many morons are still electing loses in the county. So glad I was able to move out of the sewer called Southern California.
AV supporter says
Yeah California has become a better place since you moved we’re glad you moved to