Bostonist is pleased to report that all it took for the state Senate to raise hourly rates for public Bar advocates (the private lawyers who represent most indigent defendants) was the release of three drug suspects for lack of representation, a pleading Globe op-ed piece by a District Court judge, and the refusal of two thirds of the lawyers in Suffolk and Middlesex Counties who take indigent defendant cases to sign up for another year. The only hurdles left for Massachusetts to move out of 48th place in the nation for public defender wages are the state House of Representatives and the Governor (as much as he ever stands in the way of the uber-democratic legislature). Not surprisingly (being a lawyer who works in the public sector), we think this is a good idea, and way way way overdue.
On the occasions when we are in the company of people who don't share our ultra-liberal politics (i.e. our in-laws), Bostonist has heard some confusion about why this issue is a big deal. We also recall that when Bar Advocates in Hampden County refused to take new cases last summer, the initial reaction in many quarters was outrage at the Bar Advocates. "Why," people (including the Governor and our family members) ask, "do these lawyers need $100 an hour?"
The answer, which Bostonist offers based on recent conversations with public defenders we know, is that $100 doesn't go that far when you have to pay for overhead, support staff, and health insurance, as Bar Advocates do. When the lawyer shortage reached its height last summer, Mitt Romney said that the low pay was no big deal because criminal defense work is only supposed to be a part-time gig for Bar Advocates (or a "gravy job," as he colorfully called it). While that may be true, the fact is that criminal defense work is a world unto itself, utterly different from most other sorts of legal practice. Most lawyers we know would shy away from it even if it didn't pay so much less than other legal work, because it's emotionally taxing, the procedures are arcane, the stakes are high, and the clients almost never treat you to meals at fancy restaurants. (When Bostonist did criminal defense work in law school, one of our juvenile clients offered us three bicycles as a "thank you" for a job well done, but something told us it would be improper (if not criminal) to accept.) That said, it's hard to get people to do defense work even part time for wages that don't even cover their costs. And while Bar Advocates are theoretically supposed to do other, better paying work, the relatively small number of full-time, salaried public defenders (also a result of poor funding) makes full-time Bar Advocates indispensable.
All of which is to say, the Senate did the right thing, we hope the House will follow suit, and the Governor would have to be crazy not to sign on (or, if not crazy, eager to appear tough on crime, but we can't imagine why he'd care about that).
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