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"Citing Workload, Public Lawyers Reject New Cases"

By Douglas A. Berman

The title of this post is the title of this front-page article appearing in today's New York Times.  Here is how it begins: Public defenders? offices in at least seven states are refusing to take on new cases or have sued to limit them, citing overwhelming workloads that they say undermine the constitutional right to counsel for the poor. Public defenders are notoriously overworked, and their turnover is high and their pay low. But now, in the most open revolt by public defenders in memory, many of the government-appointed lawyers say that state budget cuts and rising caseloads have pushed them to the breaking point. In September, a Florida judge ruled that the public defenders? office in Miami-Dade County could refuse to represent many of those arrested on lesser felony charges so its lawyers could provide a better defense for other clients...continue to full post

Full post as published by Sentencing Law and Policy on November 09, 2008 (boomark / email).