The ongoing overburdening of U.S. public defense systems that serve millions of people annually is jeopardizing the fairness of our justice system and can result in more and longer prison sentences, according to a report published recently by the Justice Policy Institute. According to the report, 73% of county-based public defenders offices lacked the requisite number of attorneys to meet caseload standards; 23% of these offices had less than half of the necessary attorneys to meet caseload standards. The report argues that with an increasing overload of cases, lack of quality defense, and a shortage of resources, justices is not being served and the well-being of millions of people is at stake.
The Cost of Under-Resourcing Public Defense