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That Depends on What Your Definition of 'Case' is

By Eric Lipman

Nevada's Indigent Defense Commission is tasked with making sure that the state's system for providing counsel to criminal defendants who cannot afford to retain their own lawyers is adequately staffed and running as smoothly as possible. It's a Sixth Amendment thing. But the Commission's work is being questioned -- and the implementation of any recommendations being held up -- because of a dispute about what constitutes a "case" for purposes of assessing public defenders' workloads. From the Reno Gazette-Journal (via the ABA Journal), it seems that public defenders are complaining that they -- and potentially their clients -- are suffering as a result of their excessive caseloads. Prosecutors and police think their math is suspect. The Commission has already completed its final study, but questions remain: The study concluded that indigent defense in Nevada is in "crisis," [Nevada Supreme Court Justice James] Hardesty said, but they failed to provide two critical elements: "What is the current caseload for the public defenders, and what should the caseload be?" And during a subsequent meeting, Hardesty said he asked if anyone could define exactly what a "case" was and whether Nevada had adopted a definition." All responded, 'No," he said. "It's a fundamental...

Full post as published by Legal Blog Watch on July 13, 2010 (boomark / email).