Public Defenders
California PD’s Office Tells Judges It Has to Refuse Some Cases
Posted Aug 4, 2009 8:09 AM CST
By Debra Cassens Weiss
Another overworked public defender’s office is acting to limit its cases.
The public defender’s office in Alameda County, Calif., is telling judges that it can no longer represent certain defendants because it doesn’t have enough lawyers to do the job.
Public Defender Diane Bellas estimates her office will have to turn away about 10,200 clients a year, including misdemeanor defendants and those accused of probation violations, the Oakland Tribune reports. Budget cuts call for her office to lose 14 positions in September.
"Our department is a poster child for the failures of state government and the grave consequences of those leadership failures," Bellas said on Monday.
Public defenders in at least seven other states have also refused to take new cases or have sued to limit the numbers. Two of the lawsuits—in Kentucky and Florida—were not successful, according to the Oakland Tribune.
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Comments
J.D.
Aug 4, 2009 8:25 AM CST
The office claims to be the “poster child for the failures of state government.”
Perhaps more accurately, the office is the poser child for the failures of liberals running state government.
B. McLeod
Aug 4, 2009 10:59 AM CST
This is interesting though. One of our most populous states is unable to furnish adequate public defenders for its criminal justice system. It is too bad the ABA House of Delegates is too busy pushing its extraneous social programs to say a word about a mere quibble such as this.
overpay
Aug 4, 2009 2:24 PM CST
That’s what happens when you overpay cops and firefighters and give them pensions worth $3.8 million after only 20 years of service.
Stupid Cops
Aug 4, 2009 10:42 PM CST
I agree with overpay, when you’re paying GED cops and firefighters $200K per year, making more than a PD, DA and even the judges, then there is less money for everything else. That is what has happened, the cops and FF’s have basically snatched the cookie jar-leaving next to nothing for the rest of society.
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