The Minnesota Public Defender System and the Criminal Law Process: A Comparative Study of Behavior at the Judicial District Level

Abstract

In 1965 the Minnesota legislature created the office of State Public Defender and authorized the establishment of defender systems in the ten judicial districts which comprise the state judicial system. District systems were to be established upon decision of the district judges for each given district. The period from 1966 through 1967 saw the expansion of the system from two original districts to six additional judicial districts. This study describes and explains the effects of the introduction of this indigent defense system upon the criminal law process in the state of Minnesota. What follows essentially focuses on a problem of institutionalization, i.e., the transformation of an idea or concept into a working institution and its subsequent manifest or latent consequences. (On this problem, see Warriner [1962] and Eisenstadt [1957].) The primary task of this study is the determination of the changes effected by the introduction of the system upon the variables by which the criminal law process is statistically monitored. The replacement of the appointive counsel system by the public defender system assumes a change in the operative goals of the defense system. The statistics which monitor the criminal law process are analyzed for changes which indicate a modification in those operative goals. Particular emphasis is placed on the discovery of trends in the process variables which indicate goals pointing to a maximization of due process values. We also undertake a comparative analysis which emphasizes differentiation congruent with increasing experience under the public defender system. Finally, the study analyzes reaction to the system on the part of personnel involved in the adversary process affecting indigent accused.