Legislation to guarantee the right to legal representation for juveniles facing delinquency proceedings is on its way to Governor Gretchen Whitmer.
The bipartisan bill would expand the purview of the Michigan Indigent Defense Commission to include juvenile proceedings. It would also add an attorney with experience in juvenile justice to the commission to help set minimum standards for lawyers who work on juvenile cases.
State Senator Sue Shink (D-Northfield Township) said the legislation would create consistency in a system that is a patchwork with different rules in different counties.
“This will provide a statewide standard that will be developed and administered by the Michigan Indigent Defense Commission, who will make sure that every young person has access to a lawyer when they are accused of a serious crime – and that is a really big deal,” said Shink, the bill sponsor and chair of the Senate’s corrections budget subcommittee.
Nathan Triplett with the State Bar of Michigan – the governing body for lawyers in the state – said the bill would also recognize the unique nature of juvenile proceedings.
“These delinquency proceedings can result in secure detention, but even if they don’t, we’re talking about children whose education is being disrupted, or who are being removed from the care of their parents, or otherwise having life-changing consequences as a result of these proceedings,” Triplett told Michigan Public Radio.
Triplett said reforming wrapping juvenile justice rights into the indigent defense system will offer important legal guarantees that are similar to those available to adult criminal defendants.
“If you’re a kid in Marquette or a kid in Wayne County, you’ll have confidence that you’re going to be given access to legal counsel that will meet a minimum standard and have the representation that you need,” he said.
The bill was one of the recommendations of a task force empaneled by Governor Gretchen Whitmer, who has been supportive of efforts to overhaul juvenile justice in Michigan. She signed laws in 2019 to raise the default age defining an adult in the criminal justice system from 17 years old to 18.
A Whitmer spokesperson said the governor is reviewing the bill. The governor will have 14 days to sign or veto the bill once it is formally presented to her.
