Study: Lack of competent indigent defense has high costs

A new study by the Justice Policy Institute confirms what many previous studies have already found, that the lack of funding and attention to indigent defense has very high costs to society in both financial and non-financial ways.

“More resources must be devoted to our nation’s public defense systems. When we fail to invest in quality defense, we pay greater costs down the road – the costs of more incarceration, less public safety and fewer resources to build healthier communities. A lack of investments on the front end is creating significant costs in terms of incarceration and the lost contributions of those negatively affected; ultimately taxpayers bear the burden,” said Tracy Velázquez, executive director of the Justice Policy Institute (JPI). “People who, with appropriately resourced counsel, would not serve prison or jail time are disproportionately serving longer, unnecessary sentences: For every $1 we spend on public defense, we are currently spending nearly $14 on corrections. We need to make smarter investments that will keep us safe and not empty our wallets.”

National standards recommend that public defenders handle no more than 150 felony, 400 misdemeanor, 200 juvenile, 200 mental health, or 25 appeals per year. Only 12 percent of county public defender offices with more than 5,000 cases per year had enough lawyers to meet caseload standards. Nearly 60 percent of county-based public defender offices do not have caseload limits or the authority to refuse cases due to excessive caseloads. This lack of authority is particularly evident in larger offices with higher caseloads.

“The Sixth Amendment states that all citizens have a right to counsel, but the problem is that too many people are not getting quality or even adequate counsel as a result of overburdened attorneys serving in our public defense systems,” said Kate Taylor, author of the report and an Emerson National Hunger Fellow with the Congressional Hunger Center. “The number of cases many attorneys are expected to handle is unrealistic, unfair and is a recipe for disaster when it comes to receiving a fair trial. However, some places, like the Bronx Defenders and the D.C. Public Defender Services, are using innovative strategies to improve and expand on public defense. States and localities should look towards these and other successful systems for ways to improve the effectiveness of their services and to ensure justice for their clients.”

Michigan’s public defender system ranks among the worst in the nation, with no state funding or oversight and public defenders with almost no resources to mount a competent defense.