Kentucky Should Look to Corrections for Savings
Ernie Lewis, KACDL Legislative Agent

Kentucky has a crying need for additional resources. The most immediate is that of meeting its pension obligations. According to the Pew Center on the states, “Today, Kentucky faces a $23.6 billion shortfall between what should have been set aside to pay future pension benefits and what has already been set aside. That sum is more than twice the revenue delivered by Kentucky’s entire tax system in 2011.” In addition, our state university system is grossly underfunded. Our judicial system closed courthouse doors several times last year. Medicaid continues to grow. State workers have received virtually no raise for the past 10 years. Simply put, we need additional resources to meet existing needs. None of this is new. Task Forces have been issuing reports over the past decade detailing both the needs and possible avenues of relief, usually in the form of casino gambling, tax reform, or both.

One source of additional revenue seldom mentioned is in our correctional system. Perhaps that is because we assume that we must incarcerate the number of people that we incarcerate because of the needs of public safety. Kentucky spends almost $500 million per year to incarcerate and supervise 22,000+ inmates and over 41,444 (as of 2011) persons on probation and pa-role. Kentucky spends an additional $244 million (as of the Auditor’s Report in 2005) on jails (for misdemeanants and pretrial detainees). Over 19,000 persons in Kentucky are presently housed in our jails, including over 8000 persons incarcerated for a felony offense. Kentucky houses more felons in county jail than any other state except for Louisiana. Almost 2% of the Kentucky population is in prison, jail, or on probation or parole. One might assume that surely this level of spending is necessary to guarantee public safety, particularly when there are so many other competing needs. That is an erroneous assumption.

We have increased spending by 4 times since 1990 without increasing public safety. The Kentucky Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers believes that we can find additional resources through the cutting of corrections costs.

Read more

ABA Study of Kentucky's Death Penalty Finds Serious Deficiencies

On Wednesday, December 7, 2011 the Kentucky Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers called for a moratorium on further executions in Kentucky until state authorities address serious issues raised in a comprehensive ABA-based study of Kentucky's implementation of the death penalty.

KACDL called upon the Governor, the Attorney General, and other Kentucky criminal justice policy makers to fully implement the American Bar Association (ABA) Kentucky Assessment Team on the Death Penalty's recommendations and to institute a moratorium on executions until the ABA Kentucky Assesment Team's recommendations are fully implemented. Governor Beshear's office said his administration would review the report.

You can download a copy of the report from the American Bar Association's website here. The 520-page report is 5.6 MB in PDF format.

Read the KACDL Press Release of December 7, 2011

KACDL Resolution in Support of Implementation of Reforms Recommended by the ABA Assessment Team

KACDL Letter to Kentucky Governor Steven L. Beshear

KACDL Letter to Kentucky Attorney General Jack Conway

Kentucky's Public Advocates Call for a Moratorium on Executions

KACDL has submitted to the General Assembly additional recommendations for the reform of Kentucky's criminal laws.

In 2010 Kentucky lawmakers created the Task Force on the Penal Code and Controlled Substances Act. The General Assembly asked the Task Force to recommend changes to the state’s penal code that would control the growth of Kentucky's prison population without sacrificing public safety. Along with co-chairs Sen. Tom Jensen (London, Senate District 21) and Rep. John Tilley (Hopkinsville, House District 8), Task Force members were Chief Justice John D. Minton, Jr., Secretary of the Justice and Public Safety Cabinet J. Michael Brown, LaRue County Judge/Executive Tommy Turner, former prosecutor Tom Handy and KACDL member J. Guthrie True.

The task force conducted an extensive review of Kentucky’s corrections data to identify factors driving increases in the state’s prison population and related costs. The task force’s recommendations resulted in House Bill 463 which was signed into law on March 3, 2011.

Read the text of HB 463.

Read the Report of the Task Force.

As the Task Force on the Penal Code and Controlled Substances Act begins its new interim meeting period, its members sought suggestions regarding needed changes in Kentucky's criminal laws from public officials and other persons interested in the criminal justice system.

Under the leadership of Bob Lotz and Ernie Lewis, KACDL forwarded its recommendations to the Task Force in June of 2011.

READ KACDL'S JUNE, 2011 RECOMMENDATIONS TO THE PENAL CODE TASK FORCE.

UPDATE! On Friday, October 7th, the Kentucky Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers (KACDL), the Kentucky Department of Public Advocacy (DPA) and the Lexington Police Department made follow-up presentations to the Kentucky Legislature's Task Force on the Penal Code and Controlled Substances Act outlining their experiences under the changes to the criminal law embodied in HB 463, and making additional recommendations for change. Links to each of their presentations follow below.

KACDL'S OCTOBER, 2011 PRESENTATION

DPA'S OCTOBER, 2011 PRESENTATION

LEXINGTON POLICE DEPARTMENT'S OCTOBER, 2011 PRESENTATION

Please review KACDL's recommendations and discuss them with your representatives. Local contact with lawmakers is key to progress.

If you are old enough to remember the Iran-Contra hearings,

you recognize the title of this post. Those are the immortal words of Brendan Sullivan the lawyer representing Oliver North. When congressmen complained that Sullivan was objecting too much to their questions to his client, Sullivan said, "I'm not a potted plant. I'm here as a lawyer. That's my job.” I was in law school at the time of the hearings. I remember laughing and cheering when he said that to a pompous lawmaker. People don't understand what criminal defense lawyers do. They may think our job is to play along with the system so that the minimum technical requirements of the law are met before we convict someone. They may think that we are double-breasted-suit-wearing slick talkers. If it seems like we are the only ones slowing down the wheels of justice that are running over someone, that is probably right.

I tell my clients that I am the only person in the entire system working for them. The prosecutor is actively trying to put them in jail or prison. The police are certainly trying to accomplish that. Probation officers would rather you do time than be on probation. Bailiffs usually are wanting the person to plead so they don't have to keep bringing them to court. And of course judges want to clear their backlog of cases from their docket. The criminal defense attorney is the only person asking, "Was there a crime committed and can the state prove it?" This slows down the jail express. We get asked all the time, "Why won't your guy plead?" I don't recall ever being asked, "Can the government prove your guy guilty beyond a reasonable doubt?"

The point is, I'm not just a potted plant! What self respecting lawyer would want to be just the guy who tells you to plead guilty or everyone will get upset with me. As a criminal defense lawyer I have work to do. I strive to treat clients the way I would want to be treated if I were in their position. I would want more than just a potted plant.

Doug Weathers
Hendricks, Weathers & Jefferson
Fort Worth, Texas
http://hwlawfirm.blogspot.com