Tipping the Scales: 3 Challenges Public Defenders Face

<p style&equals;"text-align&colon; justify&semi;">Every American who is arrested has to right to an attorney under the Sixth Amendment&period; As you may have heard on any US TV show in which someone was arrested&comma; if they can’t afford an attorney&comma; one will be provided for them by the state&period; That state-provided attorney is a public defender&period; They represent 80 percent of those accused of crimes&period; While public defenders play a very important role in upholding the rights of indigent defendants&comma; they do face a number of challenges&period; Let’s look at some of them&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<h2 style&equals;"text-align&colon; justify&semi;">Overwork<&sol;h2>&NewLine;<hr &sol;>&NewLine;<p style&equals;"text-align&colon; justify&semi;">There are not enough public defenders in the system to handle the number of accused who can’t afford a lawyer&period; This means state-provided lawyers are <a href&equals;"https&colon;&sol;&sol;www&period;pewtrusts&period;org&sol;en&sol;research-and-analysis&sol;blogs&sol;stateline&sol;2017&sol;11&sol;21&sol;public-defenders-fight-back-against-budget-cuts-growing-caseloads" target&equals;"&lowbar;blank" rel&equals;"noopener">overwhelmed with cases<&sol;a>&period;  Many of them have hundreds of clients assigned to them and can’t give them the time and attention they deserve&period; They can’t choose which clients they represent like those attorneys in private practice&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p style&equals;"text-align&colon; justify&semi;">Public defenders&comma; therefore&comma; get a bad rap sometimes but it’s not that they are bad lawyers&period; Many are well-educated and naturally&comma; they have lots of courtroom experience&period; however&comma; the system as it currently stands prevents them from addressing clients’ cases quickly&period; Poor people can’t afford bail or private attorneys so they have to wait&period; Attorneys are forced to leave some languishing in jail while some admit to crimes they didn’t commit just to get out&period; Public defenders have to live with this on their conscience&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<h2 style&equals;"text-align&colon; justify&semi;">Low pay<&sol;h2>&NewLine;<hr &sol;>&NewLine;<p style&equals;"text-align&colon; justify&semi;">Many lawyers don’t see public defense are an attractive career option since it is less lucrative than other areas of law&period; This means some of the best attorneys go into private practice&period; Those who enter the public defender system do so out of a sense of social justice and a desire to help the poor&period; Despite these noble intentions&comma; many public defenders find themselves overworked and underpaid&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p style&equals;"text-align&colon; justify&semi;">The low pay also keeps attorneys from marginalized communities out of public defense which means many accused people don’t have lawyers who understand them&period; The issue of low pay does not suggest that private attorneys don’t have challenges since chasing payments had let many of them to <a href&equals;"https&colon;&sol;&sol;www&period;arrestrelief&period;com&sol;lawyer" target&equals;"&lowbar;blank" rel&equals;"noopener">this site<&sol;a>&period; However&comma; they have the option of not working with certain clients&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<h2 style&equals;"text-align&colon; justify&semi;">Lack of resources<&sol;h2>&NewLine;<hr &sol;>&NewLine;<p style&equals;"text-align&colon; justify&semi;">Court-appointed attorneys often don’t have access to the financial and other resources they need to properly represent clients&period; Their funding comes from the state or county except in the case federal defenders&period; Because of budget cuts&comma; these entities are strapped for cash and some offices even try to get out of taking cases due to the lack of resources&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p style&equals;"text-align&colon; justify&semi;">There is&comma; unfortunately&comma; a backlog of cases awaiting trial since there are simply not enough defenders to get them through the system&period; This means there are innocent people whose lives have been put on hold&comma; something public defenders are only too well aware of&period; Their inability to ensure the Sixth Amendment is adhered to makes their job all the more challenging&period; Coupled with issues of pay and lack of resources&comma; public defenders face an uphill battle daily&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;