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Court-appointed lawyers
deserve to be paid more

Chief Justice Ronald Moon's clarion call in his State of the Judiciary address for a salary increase for court-appointed defense lawyers for the poor is appreciated by all who believe in justice.

By law, court-appointed defense lawyers are now paid $40 an hour ($50 for in-court time), which isn't enough to pay for office rent and salaries. Lawyers who accept court appointments risk bankruptcy. The inevitable result is that Hawaii's criminal defense lawyers cannot accept court appointments, and low-income people who are charged with a crime are at risk of not having a lawyer.

Although most indigent criminal defendants are competently represented by the Office of the Public Defender, that office cannot legally represent two people charged for the same crime, and in that situation the court must appoint a private lawyer. The right to competent representation by a lawyer in a criminal prosecution is a constitutional right under both our state and federal constitutions. When that right is jeopardized because the law limits payment to lawyers, we are all at risk of being denied basic constitutional rights.

People who are charged with crimes are not popular, and criminal defense attorneys are often unfairly stigmatized for doing an unpopular job. But, as Moon stated, "attorneys perform a vital and necessary role in the administration of justice; second, that persons accused of crimes face the awesome power of the state; and, third, any system of justice worthy of the name must assure that an individual's liberty is not taken away without putting the prosecution's evidence to the time-honored tests of examination, cross-examination, and proof beyond a reasonable doubt." Only an experienced and skilled criminal defense attorney can competently defend a person accused of a crime. Otherwise it is like putting a 10-year-old in a boxing ring against Mike Tyson!

It is human nature to want to lock up a vicious criminal, but not all the people who are locked up are guilty. Statistics show that a significant percentage of people charged with crimes are really innocent. The wealthy are able to hire skilled defense counsel; the poor are not. Thus the surest way to prevent innocent people from serving jail time for crimes they did not commit is to provide them with competent defense lawyers.

The last time Hawaii's court-appointed criminal defense lawyers received a pay raise was in 1987, almost 20 years ago. The average lawyer gets paid $180 an hour, more than four times what the court-appointed criminal defense lawyer is paid. The $40-an-hour rate is not only unfair, it is unworthy of Hawaii, which prides itself on representing justice and the spirit of aloha.

Other states, such as Kansas, Louisiana, Montana, New Hampshire, New York and Oklahoma, face the same problem. Recently the Massachusetts Supreme Court ruled that cases must be dismissed if an accused is not provided with a court-appointed attorney within 45 days. This is not a good solution to the problem. Fortunately, not only Chief Justice Moon, but legislative leaders such as Senate Judiciary Chairwoman Colleen Hanabusa, House Judiciary Chairwoman Sylvia Luke and others, support an increase to a reasonable rate, such as $95 an hour.

The Hawaii State Bar Association, with more than 4,200 active members, also is in favor of this pay increase.

Hawaii is not only the Aloha State, but it is also the "justice" state. Our state Legislature needs to enact this reasonable pay raise to ensure that Hawaii remains a home for justice and fairness.

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