Kentucky: Attorney: Public defenders are stretched too thin

Regardless of how much money they have, who they are or what they’re charged with, defendants in criminal cases have a legal right to an adequate defense. A local public defender says an “ever-increasing” caseload has begun to compromise that right across the state, including Pike and Floyd counties.

Harolyn Howard, directing attorney for the Department of Public Advocacy’s Pikeville office, said that, in the last year, the six attorneys working the Pikeville office that covers Pike and Floyd counties have seen their caseloads rise from an average of 426.3 cases per attorney to 477.3, a more than 10 percent increase.

LA: legal aid cost estimated at $55 million

The head of a group that is suing over the way the state provides attorneys to poor defendants said Thursday that a legally sound system could cost taxpayers $55 million per year.

Otherwise, more lawsuits could be filed, said Barry Scheck, president of the National Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers.

San Fran: Public Defender’s Clean Slate program reaches out to BVHP residents

San Francisco Public Defender’s office created the “Clean Slate” program to help persons who were convicted of crimes clear their criminal record. Since the program was introduced in 1999, the office has helped over 1,000 people expunge their criminal records.

La: Lawyers Want To Revise Indigent Defense

A recently filed class-action lawsuit claims that the Indigent Defender Program in Calcasieu Parish is woefully under funded.

The lawsuit contends that the program can't provide the constitutional right to adequate legal counsel when poor people face criminal charges.

GA: Study Shows Need For More Court Lawyers

The Supreme Court of Georgia's 26-member Commission on Indigent Defense recently completed a report that shows courts around Georgia are giving suspended jail sentences to indigent defendants without providing free legal representation in violation of the 2002 U.S. Supreme Court ruling in "Alabama v. Shelton." And the report also shows that those people are not being made aware of the risks of not having an attorney.

See report here