Missouri’s Public Defenders Suing Governor Nixon

Missouri’s public defender agency is suing over what it calls Governor Jay Nixon’s unconstitutional decision to withhold three-and-a-half million dollars in funds for defending the indigent. The Missouri State Public Defender system and the state’s Public Defender Commission filed the lawsuit Wednesday in Cole County. The agency’s suit alleges that Nixon has cut its budget by eight-point-five percent while no general revenue was restricted from Nixon’s own budget. System’s director Michael Barrett calls the move political and accuses Nixon of trying to “weaken public defense to the point it can no longer perform its independent function within the criminal justice system.”