North Dakota Catholic Conference

Representing the Dioceses of Bismarck and Fargo

To: Senate Judiciary Committee
From: Christopher T. Dodson, Executive Director
Subject: Senate Bill 2027 (Indigent Defense Services)
Date: January 18, 2005

The North Dakota Catholic Conference supports Senate Bill 2027 to improve our state’s indigent defense services. Others have shared the findings of the task force, the inadequacies of our present system, and the details of the bill. Still others may demonstrate why constitutional requirements necessitate an improved indigent defense system. I appear here today to offer an additional principle for consideration.

The right to provided counsel for indigent defendants has its roots in the Old Testament and has been recognized by religious leaders to this day. Most evident from the early Scriptures in this regard are the admonishments and rebukes by the prophets to those who did not justly and fairly treat the poor in the courts. (Translated in many English translations as “at the gate.”) Indeed, the demand for justice for the poor is one of the most prevalent themes in the Old Testament. The early Christian Church continued this call, as when the bishops petitioned the Roman emperor to appoint a defender of the poor for legislative and judicial matters. More recently, the Catholic bishops of Wisconsin, after a year-long study of that state’s system, stated:
Criminal justice policies and pastoral responses to crime must take special care to address and serve those with little or no money. Policies must ensure that justice is as accessible to victims and offenders who are poor as it is to those who are more affluent.

Continuing this tradition, the North Dakota Catholic Conference supports Senate Bill 2027, not just because it is in line with constitutional rights to justice, but also because it is in line with a core principle of Catholic social teaching. That principle holds that the measure of all institutions is the degree to which they either enhance or threaten the life and dignity of every human being, and the degree to which they protect and empower the poorest and most vulnerable members of our society.

We urge a Do Pass recommendation on Senate Bill 2027.



To: Senate Appropriations Committee
From: Christopher T. Dodson, Executive Director
Subject: Senate Bill 2027 (Indigent Defense Services)
Date: February 4, 2005

The North Dakota Catholic Conference supports Senate Bill 2027 to improve our state’s indigent defense services. Although the primary concern of this committee is the appropriation, no expenditure of state funds occurs in moral or justice vacuum. We provide this testimony to illustrate why this particular request is needed to ensure and preserve the interests of justice.

The right to provided counsel for indigent defendants has its roots in the Old Testament and has been recognized by religious leaders to this day. Most evident from the early Scriptures in this regard are the admonishments and rebukes by the prophets to those who did not justly and fairly treat the poor in the courts. Indeed, the demand for justice for the poor is one of the most prevalent themes in the Old Testament. The early Christian Church continued this call, as when the bishops petitioned the Roman emperor to appoint a defender of the poor for legislative and judicial matters. More recently, the Catholic bishops of Wisconsin, after a year-long study of that state’s system, stated:
Criminal justice policies and pastoral responses to crime must take special care to address and serve those with little or no money. Policies must ensure that justice is as accessible to victims and offenders who are poor as it is to those who are more affluent.

Continuing this tradition, the North Dakota Catholic Conference supports Senate Bill 2027, not just because it is in line with constitutional rights to justice, but also because it is in line with a core principle of Catholic social teaching. That principle holds that the measure of all institutions is the degree to which they either enhance or threaten the life and dignity of every human being, and the degree to which they protect and empower the poorest and most vulnerable members of our society.

We urge a Do Pass recommendation on Senate Bill 2027.