Missouri Public Defenders Head Forces Budget-Cutting Governor To Work

Obscure Law Used To Force Governor To Be Public Defender

Talk about justice. The Director of the Missouri Public Defenders Office, Michael Barrett, is in charge of making sure the poor have adequate legal defense, but he says he can’t do all that due to massive budget cuts from Governor Jay Nixon. As head of the Public Defenders Office, Barrett does have the power to force a state lawyer to be a public defender. And so he found the perfect lawyer for the job: Governor Jay Nixon.