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

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  01 July 2024

Roger W. Benjamin  and
Theodore B. Pedeliski
Roger W. Benjamin
Affiliation:
University of Minnesota
Theodore B. Pedeliski
Affiliation:
University of North Dakota (Grand Forks)
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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.

Type
Research Article
Information
Law & Society Review , Volume 4 , Issue 2 , November 1969 , pp. 279 - 320
Copyright
Copyright © 1969 by the Law and Society Association.

Footnotes

AUTHOR'S NOTE: This article is a substantial revision and expansion of a paper presented at the Annual Meeting of the Midwest Political Science Association at Chicago, Illinois in May 1968. This study is based on a research project undertaken to evaluate the impact of the introduction of the public defender system upon the administration of criminal justice in Minnesota. Chief investigators were Roger W. Benjamin and Theodore Pedeliski. Valuable criticism, advice, and information was received at various stages from C. Paul Jones, Minnesota State Public Defender; Chief Justice Oscar Knutson of the Minnesota Supreme Court; John Cleary, Deputy Director of the National Legal Aid and Defender Association; Professors David Graven and John Sprague; and Lee Silverstein, Research Attorney, American Bar Center. Research and interviewing assistance of Susan O. White and Janice Walros is gratefully acknowledged. Research was supported by the National Defender Project of the National Legal Aid and Defender Association; the Minnesota State Judicial Council, the University of Minnesota Graduate School; and the National Science Foundation Graduate Fellowship Program. Computer assistance through the University of Minnesota Computer Center is also acknowledged.

References

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