CONCORD, N.H. (AP) - The New Hampshire Supreme Court has adopted a rule saying indigents who face jail for refusing to pay a court fine don’t have the right to a court-appointed lawyer.
A one-year pilot program allowing lawyers was suggested by a judicial advisory committee.
The court, in its order Monday, said neither it nor the U.S. Supreme Court has held that such a right is mandated under the state or U.S. constitutions. It said that should be left to Legislature. Justice Carol Conboy favored the program.
Data collected by the ACLU of New Hampshire last year showed 289 defendants who owed fines in 2013 were jailed. The analysis showed that taxpayers spent nearly $167,000 to detain debtors who owed fines totaling less than half that.
Law professor Buzz Scherr, a report co-author, said he’s disappointed in the court’s decision.
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