As Public Defense Faces Crises, Supportive Bipartisan Coalitions Emerge
On the stage of criminal justice reform, the voice of one actor has too often been missing: the public defender.[]See for example Jonathan Rapping, “Public Defenders Key to Reducing Mass Incarceration,” Talk Poverty, October 19, 2015 Public defenders—who typically earn significantly less than similarly experienced prosecutors—are frequently overworked, oftentimes in underfunded offices that now face budget cuts.[]Currently, public defenders in Ohio, for example, make roughly $20,000 less annually than similarly experienced prosecutors. Nancy Molnar, “Public Defender Gerald Latanich Seeks Salary Parity with Prosecutors,” Times-Reporter, October 24, 2017. In response to proposed budget cuts to an already underfunded office, the Cook County public defender (whose jurisdiction includes Chicago) threatened to stop accepting new criminal cases. Were she to make good on that threat, Cook County would be forced to hire private attorneys to handle those cases or face a class action lawsuit for failing to provide counsel for its poor citizens accused of crimes. See Steve Schmadeke, “Public Defender, State’s Attorney Raise Alarm About Steep Cook County Budget Cuts,” Chicago Tribune, October 23, 2017. They have protested their overwhelming caseloads, and the quality of public defense programs has become the subject of litigation.
Two cases out of Missouri’s highest court illustrate their plight and seem to place public defenders in an untenable position: in one case, the court disciplined a public defender who had taken on too many cases so that he could not provide each client with an adequate defense; while in the other, the court ruled that public defenders must seek a court’s permission before refusing to take on additional cases.[]In re Hinkebein, Case No. SC96089 (Mo. 2017), briefs and oral argument recording available at Office of the State Courts Administrator, Missouri, “Case Summaries for September 7, 2017,”; In re: Area 16 Public Defender Office III, No. 1716-MC14505, (W.D. Mo. 2017) Also see “Public Defenders Raise Concerns After Recent Court Rulings,” News Tribune, October 24, 2017; Ian Cummings, “KC Public Defenders Say High Caseloads Mean Losing Their Licenses, Going To Jail, or Quitting,” Kansas City Star, October 19, 2017, updated October 22, 2017; and Bob Watson, “Public Defenders Continue to Seek Case-load Relief” News Tribune, December 17, 2017.
In 2017, however, public defenders did win some reform victories, and a growing number of conservative voices spoke out in favor of adequate funding for public defense.
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