Reformers hoping to ease public defenders’ massive workloads are conducting studies in multiple states to set a new benchmark for what constitutes too many cases to defend them ethically.
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Defense attorneys spend more time with criminal defendants than anyone else in the justice system. So if they care about better outcomes, they need to go beyond their traditional roles, says the head of the Milwaukee Public Defender’s Office.
Constitutional guarantees of equal protection look hollow to poor, working-class Americans who are forced to turn to under-funded and overworked public defenders’ offices when they are in trouble with the law.
A Brooklyn, N.Y,-based grassroots group is teaching people with substance abuse disorder how to avoid getting ensnared in the criminal justice system. Organizer Jason Del Aguila says the first step is empowering individuals in their encounters with the courts and police.
Stress is an occupational hazard for lawyers, driving some to alcoholism and substance abuse. But when public defenders succumb, it can also affect the right of the poorest individuals to a fair trial, a Crime Report investigation finds.
Wisconsin relies on private lawyers for 40 percent of its public defense work and provides the lowest compensation of any state. Now the state is struggling to get lawyers to take those cases. A petition has been filed with the state Supreme Court to raise defense lawyer pay to $100 an hour from $40.
With overwhelming caseloads, public defenders are suing states for more funding. Defenders are increasingly trying other tactics: refusing to take on new cases, raising money through crowdfunding, even trying to assign a case to a sitting governor.
Kansas City public defender stops assigning new cases to attorneys for fear of putting the public defenders in danger of losing their license for taking on more cases than they can properly handle.
The state prison population has declined under the six-year-old plan to keep many convicts in local jails, the National Forum on Criminal Justice was told yesterday. But violent crime has also gone up recently.
To avoid court, motorists can write a check directly to the local prosecutor under an unusual system known as “DA Pre-Trial Diversion.” The use of diversion seems to be growing, raising eyebrows among public defenders who rely on traffic fines for funding.