Gideon v. Wainwright secured the right to an attorney for defendants facing felony charges, even if they couldn’t afford the representation. Would have been nice if it went just a little bit further and ensured that the representing attorneys would be duly compensated for upholding their part of the Constitution. The Court may have assumed that a competent government would set aside enough funding to ensure that the appointed attorneys would get paid for their work. If only Congress were competent. Bloomberg Law has coverage:
Court officials have warned the defender services program will no longer have the funds to pay attorneys, appointed by federal courts to represent criminal defendants who can’t afford representation, for their work over the last few months of this fiscal year. They attribute the upcoming suspension to underfunding by Congress.
…
[T]housands of CJA panel attorneys, who are mostly solo practitioners or at small firms, won’t be paid for their work and will be left with the bill for expert witnesses, investigators, their own staff, and operating expenses as they continue to take on cases during the suspension period, estimated to start in mid-July and stretch through September.
It shouldn’t take bears overrunning a Libertarian town for people to realize that smaller government isn’t always better. There are some aspects to government spending you just shouldn’t skimp on: ensuring that there’s enough money in the budget to protect everyone’s due process rights being chief among them. Poor people are more likely to be wrongfully convicted as it is; effectively defunding one of the few lifelines that prevent people from getting sent to jail for being poor isn’t just bad fund management — it’s cruel.
Defense Lawyers Face Months Without Pay as Federal Funds Dry Up [Bloomberg Law]
Earlier: Public Defender Schedules Are So Swamped It Probably Isn’t Constitutional
Chris Williams became a social media manager and assistant editor for Above the Law in June 2021. Prior to joining the staff, he moonlighted as a minor Memelord™ in the Facebook group Law School Memes for Edgy T14s. He endured Missouri long enough to graduate from Washington University in St. Louis School of Law. He is a former boatbuilder who is learning to swim, is interested in critical race theory, philosophy, and humor, and has a love for cycling that occasionally annoys his peers. You can reach him by email at cwilliams@abovethelaw.com and by tweet at @WritesForRent.
The post Criminal Defense Attorneys Facing Work Without Pay Because Of Poor Budgeting appeared first on Above the Law.
Gideon v. Wainwright secured the right to an attorney for defendants facing felony charges, even if they couldn’t afford the representation. Would have been nice if it went just a little bit further and ensured that the representing attorneys would be duly compensated for upholding their part of the Constitution. The Court may have assumed that a competent government would set aside enough funding to ensure that the appointed attorneys would get paid for their work. If only Congress were competent. Bloomberg Law has coverage:
Court officials have warned the defender services program will no longer have the funds to pay attorneys, appointed by federal courts to represent criminal defendants who can’t afford representation, for their work over the last few months of this fiscal year. They attribute the upcoming suspension to underfunding by Congress.
…
[T]housands of CJA panel attorneys, who are mostly solo practitioners or at small firms, won’t be paid for their work and will be left with the bill for expert witnesses, investigators, their own staff, and operating expenses as they continue to take on cases during the suspension period, estimated to start in mid-July and stretch through September.
It shouldn’t take bears overrunning a Libertarian town for people to realize that smaller government isn’t always better. There are some aspects to government spending you just shouldn’t skimp on: ensuring that there’s enough money in the budget to protect everyone’s due process rights being chief among them. Poor people are more likely to be wrongfully convicted as it is; effectively defunding one of the few lifelines that prevent people from getting sent to jail for being poor isn’t just bad fund management — it’s cruel.
Defense Lawyers Face Months Without Pay as Federal Funds Dry Up [Bloomberg Law]
Earlier: Public Defender Schedules Are So Swamped It Probably Isn’t Constitutional
Chris Williams became a social media manager and assistant editor for Above the Law in June 2021. Prior to joining the staff, he moonlighted as a minor Memelord™ in the Facebook group Law School Memes for Edgy T14s. He endured Missouri long enough to graduate from Washington University in St. Louis School of Law. He is a former boatbuilder who is learning to swim, is interested in critical race theory, philosophy, and humor, and has a love for cycling that occasionally annoys his peers. You can reach him by email at [email protected] and by tweet at @WritesForRent.
