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Wednesday, May 26, 2004
Indiana Law - Dispute about Marion County diversion program
This story was on the front page of the Indianapolis Star this morning. The headline: "Judge rejects fees for poor defendants: Marion County effort that dismisses cases of first-time offenders is unfair, jurist says." Some quotes (the order of several paragraphs has been rearranged):
Diversion programs, which the county has had in some form for about 30 years, give a second chance to first-time offenders. A person accused of a nonviolent crime must admit guilt, pay a fee and attend classes or submit to some other kind of court monitoring. In return, the state dismisses the case, and the person avoids a criminal conviction. * * *A Marion County program allowing some first-time offenders to clear their names if they meet certain conditions creates two unequal systems of justice -- one for people with money and another for the poor, a county judge has ruled.
Commissioner Israel Cruz this week declared unconstitutional the way Prosecutor Carl Brizzi runs the county's diversion program. Cruz ordered the prosecutor to place a 19-year-old woman charged with shoplifting in the county's diversion program even though she cannot pay the $230 fee. * * *
State law allows every prosecutor in the state's 92 counties to set up diversion programs. Most rely on that money to keep their offices running, said Becky McClure, assistant director of the Indiana Prosecuting Attorneys Council. She said Cruz's decision, released Monday, could have a far-reaching impact. "At this stage, this is a decision in one case in Marion County," she said. "We will certainly be watching it with great interest to see where it goes." * * *
Norman Lefstein, a professor and the former dean of the Indiana University School of Law-Indianapolis, said prosecutors must apply the law fairly. "That is a classic denial of equal protection under the law," Lefstein said. "We don't have in this country one set of laws for the rich and another set for the poor."
But Johnson County Prosecutor Lance Hamner said no one should get a free ride. "Anyone who is motivated can pay the fee," he said. "When you have a judge claiming that all a person has to do is claim indigency and he doesn't have to pay, you open the floodgates."
Posted by Marcia Oddi on May 26, 2004 02:46 PM
Posted to Indiana Law