<html><head><meta http-equiv="content-type" content="text/html; charset=utf-8"></head><body dir="auto"><div>Wonderful news, Rose, and as always too, great post, Saundra. </div><div><br></div><div>Since Bob retired in January, we've been in and out of town constantly. Finally home for a stretch and would love to get together with you. I have alot of catching up to do!</div><div><br></div><div>Much love,</div><div><br></div><div>Betsy<br><br>Sent from my iPad</div><div><br>On Jun 17, 2015, at 12:31 PM, Saundra Lund <<a href="mailto:v2020@ssl1.fastmail.fm">v2020@ssl1.fastmail.fm</a>> wrote:<br><br></div><blockquote type="cite"><div><meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html; charset=us-ascii"><meta name="Generator" content="Microsoft Word 15 (filtered medium)"><style><!--
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</o:shapelayout></xml><![endif]--><div class="WordSection1"><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="color:#1F497D">Hi Rose,<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="color:#1F497D"><o:p> </o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="color:#1F497D">Any idea how long the lawsuit will take? This is long overdue, but given the State’s history of dragging its feet <b>even when</b> it agrees to settle & change (see my post from Monday about the <b>thirty-five years and counting</b> saga re: mental health care for kids in state care/custody), it’s challenging for me to muster much optimism that the lawsuit will result in meaningful change in my lifetime.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="mso-margin-top-alt:auto;mso-margin-bottom-alt:auto;margin-left:.5in"><span lang="EN" style="font-family:"Times New Roman",serif">The 2010 study also cited sky-high caseloads and workloads for public defenders; lack of communication with their clients; inadequate or nonexistent case investigation; inadequate safeguards to protect the independence of public defenders, who in places serve at the will of county commissioners; poor representation of children in juvenile and criminal court; and lack of meaningful state funding, sufficient supervision, performance standards, training and professional development.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="mso-margin-top-alt:auto;mso-margin-bottom-alt:auto;margin-left:.5in"><span lang="EN" style="font-family:"Times New Roman",serif">The suit acknowledges Idaho’s “long history of recognizing right to counsel” for indigent defendants. Idaho had a system in place before the U.S. Supreme Court’s landmark 1963 ruling in Gideon vs. Wainwright. Idaho’s attorney general at the time signed an amicus brief supporting the plaintiff, but Idaho “has taken several steps backward in the half-century since Gideon,” the suit alleges.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="mso-margin-top-alt:auto;mso-margin-bottom-alt:auto;margin-left:.5in"><span lang="EN" style="font-family:"Times New Roman",serif">It seeks a ruling that the state is obligated to provide “constitutionally adequate” representation to indigent criminal defendants from their initial court appearance onward, as well as a finding that the constitutional rights of Idaho’s indigent criminal defendants “are being violated by the State on an ongoing basis.”<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="mso-margin-top-alt:auto;mso-margin-bottom-alt:auto;margin-left:.5in"><span lang="EN" style="font-family:"Times New Roman",serif">Besides requesting a deadline for corrective action, it asks for a statewide system of public defense to replace the existing county-by-county framework; state enforcement of uniform workload, performance, and training standards for public defenders and a ban on fixed-fee contracts for indigent- defense services. <o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="color:#1F497D">I certainly hope I’m wrong and that the ACLU’s suit progresses quickly – the excerpt above shows how dire the situation is – and has been – is spite of Idaho’s “long history of recognizing right to counsel for indigent defendants.” It’s easy to pay lip service to Constitutional protections for those involved in the criminal justice system – let’s see what Idaho will do not that push has at long last come to shove.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="color:#1F497D"><o:p> </o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="color:#1F497D">I’ll be keeping my eye on this and hoping for a better outcome than, oh, say, Otter’s CCA (Corrections Corporation of America) & IEN (Idaho Education Network) scandals.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="color:#1F497D"><o:p> </o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="color:#1F497D">Saundra Lund<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="color:#1F497D"><o:p> </o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="color:#1F497D">No act of kindness, no matter how small, is ever wasted.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="color:#1F497D">~ Aesop (The Lion and the Mouse)<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="color:#1F497D"><o:p> </o:p></span></p><div><div style="border:none;border-top:solid #E1E1E1 1.0pt;padding:3.0pt 0in 0in 0in"><p class="MsoNormal"><b>From:</b> <a href="mailto:vision2020-bounces@moscow.com">vision2020-bounces@moscow.com</a> [<a href="mailto:vision2020-bounces@moscow.com">mailto:vision2020-bounces@moscow.com</a>] <b>On Behalf Of </b>Rosemary Huskey<br><b>Sent:</b> Wednesday, June 17, 2015 11:33 AM<br><b>To:</b> 'Moscow Vision 2020'<br><b>Subject:</b> [Vision2020] Great News !!!!<o:p></o:p></p></div></div><p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal"><a href="http://www.idahostatesman.com/2015/06/17/3855823_aclu-sues-idaho-for-lack-of-action.html?rh=1">http://www.idahostatesman.com/2015/06/17/3855823_aclu-sues-idaho-for-lack-of-action.html?rh=1</a><o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal">I know attorneys who have waited years for this to happen and FINALLY progress will be made. Public Defenders are my personal heroes and with a strong, professional state-wide support system (which they have needed and deserved for decades) they will be able to serve their clients and the community on an equitable bases. I am pleased as punch about this.<o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal">Rose Huskey<o:p></o:p></p></div></div></blockquote><blockquote type="cite"><div><span>=======================================================</span><br><span> List services made available by First Step Internet,</span><br><span> serving the communities of the Palouse since 1994.</span><br><span> <a href="http://www.fsr.net">http://www.fsr.net</a></span><br><span> <a href="mailto:Vision2020@moscow.com">mailto:Vision2020@moscow.com</a></span><br><span>=======================================================</span></div></blockquote></body></html>