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Public Defencers in 7 States Refusing Or Suing to Limit New Cases

By David Badertscher, PLL

<p><font size="2"><strong>Source: </strong><em>Crime and Justice News, </em>November 10, 2008.</font></p> <p><font size="2">"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, the New York Times reports. 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."</font></p> <p><font size="2"><font> </font><br/>"In September, a Florida judge ruled that public defenders 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. Over the last three years, the average number of felony cases handled by each lawyer in a year has climbed to close to 500, from 367, officials said, and caseloads for lawyers assigned to misdemeanor cases have risen to 2,225, from 1,380. 'Right now a lot of public defenders are starting to stand up and say, 'No more: We can't ethically handle this many cases,' ' said David Carroll of the National Legal Aid and Defender Association. The Miami-Dade case, which is being closely watched across the country, was appealed by the state, which says that defender offices must share the burden of falling revenues." </font></p> <p><a href="http://rs6.net/tn.jsp?e=00101V2mU73_SeN-buxN06D2yjykiGLb4UBGP-sDS1KFGR-KkmwV9usxp1EBb7akNIryURtfwR8u_EfnZE-lJCTfFAiMw2-nhbTNrCZJ4Rmrhqa_BjDmMhq6dKrwTCjOPbwul24GnQgEYxW8qZP1sKT4LS7RN_-O9BzY-BO-dI3WlO8t4MqEBtFutyP52coaUmpKjGIIVVnHek=" shape="rect" color="#0000FF" target="_blank"><font size="2">New York Times</font></a><font size="2"> </font></p>

Full post as published by New York Supreme Court Criminal Term Library on November 10, 2008 (boomark / email).