Right to Counsel ‘Hanging by a Tattered Thread’

An editorial warns that public defender offices are overburdened and underfunded as a result of funding cutbacks, creating a problem that is “reaching crisis proportions.”

The New York Times editorial notes that public defenders in at least seven states have refused to take new cases or have sued to limit their workload. Meanwhile budget cuts have forced PD offices in Minnesota, Kentucky and several large cities to cut lawyers.

The writers suggest that private lawyers could be tapped to help solve the problem, through increased registration fees to fund defense work or increased pro bono service. But ultimately, the editorial says, states will have to take responsibility to ensure competent representation for criminal defendants.

“Forty-five years after the Supreme Court’s landmark ruling established a defendant’s constitutional right to counsel in state criminal proceedings, that crucial right is hanging by a tattered thread,” the editorial says.