There is troubling news from Georgia and Oklahoma. From Georgia Public Radio, Emily Green reports, "State Slapped With Lawsuit Over Indigent Defense."
Budget problems across the country mean many states are struggling to find a way to pay for indigent defense.
In Georgia, another lawsuit has been filed against the state for failing to provide lawyers for poor defendants. Filed Tuesday morning, the lawsuit claims 200 poor inmates are without lawyers to help them appeal their convictions.
It's one of several suits alleging Georgia has violated the U.S. Constitution because it fails to adequately fund the public defender system, leaving hundreds of poor defendants without lawyers to assist with their cases.
In November 2009, the Georgia Supreme Court heard the case of death row inmate Jamie Weiss, who went more than three years without legal representation. His lawyers are asking the state to, at the least, dismiss the death penalty portion of the case.
However, state officials say lawsuits are counterproductive.
“If these lawyers were truly interested in helping the defendants, they would focus on getting them the services they need instead of chewing up state dollars on a lawsuit. Unfortunately, the state will be forced to spend already limited dollars on unnecessary litigation instead of serving these defendants,” says Chris Schrimpf, a spokesman for Governor Perdue.
At the Southern Center for Human Rights, attorneys for the poor hope the various lawsuits will force the state to take a hard look at how it funds the public defenders system.
We want the state to "revisit the question of how we structure things, how we fund things," says Lauren Sudeall, a lawyer with the Southern Center.
Jon Rapping, head of the Southern Public Defender Training Center, says Georgia’s indigent defense system is in bad shape.
“It is rapidly deteriorating. I think things may get worse before they get better,” says Rapping.
In 2005, Georgia lawmakers overhauled the state’s public defender system.
Experts hoped the state’s system would serve as a model for the rest of the country, according to Rapping. Instead, Georgia's public defender system has consistently seen its budget cut.
Earlier coverage for Georgia begins with this post.
"Oklahoma indigent defense struggles amid cuts," is the title of Julie Bisbee's report for the Sunday edition of the Oklahoman.
Next month, Joe Robertson will be in a courtroom in McAlester representing a client in a mental competency hearing.
It will be the first time in recent memory that the executive director of the Oklahoma Indigent Defense System has represented a client in court. But as the agency tries to do more with less, it’s a necessity.
Like other state agencies, the system has seen its budget cut as the state weathers an economic downturn. For the system, it means less money to hire private attorneys and a burgeoning caseload for staff attorneys.
The agency, which provides legal defense for people facing criminal charges, says it needs more than $1 million to keep providing services for people a judge has determined can’t afford an attorney.
Beefing up the funding could mean a decrease in state funds to Legal Aid of Oklahoma, said members of a House and Senate subcommittee on public safety and the judiciary.
"Legal Aid is totally optional. It’s a charity,” said Sen. Anthony Sykes, R-Moore, co-chairman of the committee. "We are not constitutionally obligated to do that. In a perfect budget situation both Legal Aid and indigent defense would have equal funding. But if we don’t provide legal aid there’s no federal penalty. If we don’t provide indigent defense a federal judge can issue an order and tell us what we have to do. Right now we’re triaging and prioritizing.”
Sykes said lawmakers attempted to use money from a fund that goes to Legal Aid of Oklahoma to help pay for the state’s indigent defense system.
"We were blocked at the executive level from doing that,” Sykes said.
Paul Sund, spokesman for Gov. Brad Henry, said the funding levels for the indigent defense system and Legal Aid were part of the budget agreement between Republican legislative leaders and the governor earlier this year.
"I don’t think the parties involved wanted to take money already earmarked for legal aid for seniors and working families and give it to the state agency charged with representing criminal defendants,” Sund said.
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