As the article below shows, their are major problems with the court appointed attorney system in Michigan. While I am sympathetic to those who truly can’t afford an attorney, many people are given a court appointed attorney even when they have good jobs and should have assets to pay for one. They are just being cheap. I have many clients who are on disability or even unemployed who can still pay. Why can’t families help out? The bigger problem is that we don’t have a set definition “indigent” and we don’t have a culture that wants people to take responsibly for their own lives.
Their are no government appointed mechanics to fix your car or sell your house. We don’t expect the government to mow our lawns or buy or clothes. Yet me expect the same government that is spending astronomical amounts of money to prosecutor, convict and house a person to also pay to defend them? The conflict of interest alone should raise some eyebrows.
You get what you pay for. Like it or not, that is the reality.