District attorneys in Oregon are once again sounding the alarm over the state's critical shortage of court-provided attorneys for low-income defendants. The lack of public defenders has left more than 700 people statewide without legal representation.
The statement reflects an increasingly popular tactic used by prosecutors in Oregon. Powerless to fix the problem on their own, they have tried to force the state’s hand. Earlier this month, Washington County District Attorney Kevin Barton said that his office would seek a court order requiring the state’s public defense agency to appoint its own staff attorneys to represent defendants if no other attorneys were available.
“Public defense is a critical component of the public safety system,” Jessica Kampfe, executive director of the Office of Public Defense Services, said in an email, adding that “public defenders need significant investments to retain existing staffing levels and increase capacity.”As of Wednesday, statewide there were 763 low-income defendants who lack legal representation, according to the stateThe Oregon Legislature is set to tackle the issue when the next session begins in January.
since the coronavirus pandemic. The public defender shortage has overwhelmed the courts, frustrated defendants and impacted crime victims, who experts say experience more trauma when cases are dismissed or take longer to be resolved.The state has been sued twice this year for allegedly violating defendants’ constitutional rights to legal counsel and a speedy trial. While the original lawsuit was dismissed, a similar second suit was filed in Multnomah County Circuit Court last month.
“On any given day, the state of Oregon can’t know literally the identity of the lawyers providing the services, which means that Oregon can’t know whether those lawyers are qualified to handle the cases or whether they have enough time to handle their cases effectively,” he said. “That creates a massive amount of ... a lack of oversight, a lack of accountability.”
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