California PD’s Office Tells Judges It Has to Refuse Some Cases
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The public defender’s office in Alameda County, Calif., is telling judges that it can no longer represent certain defendants because it doesn’t have enough lawyers to do the job.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.
