Public Advocate Testifies in Louisiana

Last week, Ernie Lewis testified before a task force examing the state of indigent defense in Louisiana. Link

A state task force looking at the question of indigent defense met Thursday, hearing from public defenders around the country about their systems. While all complained that case loads are often too high, most had more resources to spend on representing poor clients than what is spent in Louisiana.

For example, while both Kentucky and Louisiana each spend about $30 million a year on public defenders, the number of cases in Kentucky is 116,000 a year, while Louisiana public defenders handle an estimated 400,000 cases annually, according to testimony