A case of speaking truth to power? http://publicdefender.mo.gov/Newsfee...esentation.PDF Our governor is a lying sack of shit. Not surprised. FWIW, the PD system here is not part of the executive branch but is an independent agency within the judiciary, so the governor has no direct control. However, he keeps fucking with their budget. He's a buddy of the Ferguson prosecutor, if that says anything.
No. The Director seems to have the authority. Eventually a judge will decide if he really does, but the law mentioned in the letter seems pretty clear: 5. The director may: (1) Delegate the legal representation of any person to any member of the state bar of Missouri; The Governor is a lawyer, a former prosecutor and attorney general. I guess he could sidestep it by surrendering his law license but Missouri governors tend to run for US Senate and that would be politically damaging. The weird thing is the Republican-controlled house and senate pass these bills that he, an alleged Democrat, trashes. They passed a caseload-cap bill that he vetoed, a funding bill that he vetoed which was legislatively overridden (he withheld the expenditure of the money), and then another funding bill which he signed, and then turned around a couple months later and withheld the money again. They're suing him for that this time alleging separation of powers. It's friggin' nuts if you ask me.
what kind of ridiculous law allows the PD to conscript an attorney like a judge rounding up jurors at kmart
I meant more that it's nuts that the allegedly Dem Governor keeps trashing the PD system despite the Republican-controlled legislature's attempts to fix it, and that the Governor can withhold funds despite a legislative veto override on the one hand, and him actually signing a later funding bill on the other hand. I'm guessing the director is using that law as a political football. The law probably hasn't been used since the time when MO transitioned from an appointment state to a public defender state. And director here refers to the statewide Director of Missouri's entire PD system, so it's not exactly small potatoes. Anyhow, interesting and ballsy tactical move.
Our Republican Governor and the Illinois Legislature are in a knock-down drag-out "I'll burn that bridge when I come to it" battle over priorities.
Yes! My Government is more dysfunctional than YOUR Government! Edit: This is where you say: "Oh yeah? Well, MY Government is WAY MORE dysfunctional than YOUR Government!"
