Dallas City Wire

WASHINGTON – On June 1, Congresswoman Jasmine Crockett (D-TX), Suzanne Bonamici (D-OR), Kelly Armstrong (R-ND), and Jenniffer González-Colón (R-PR) introduced bipartisan legislation to address the U.S. public defender shortage.

The Ensuring Quality Access to Legal (EQUAL) Defense Act, H.R. 3758, will increase access to quality counsel by providing public defense grants, establish workload limits, phase in pay parity between public defenders and prosecutors within five years, and more.

There is currently a shortage of public defenders in many communities across the country. With a constitutional right to access to counsel in criminal cases, this shortage means that defendants might languish in custody, be denied their right to a speedy trial, or that cases might not be prosecuted at all, denying justice to crime victims. The pay for public defenders is relatively low compared with other legal careers. Public defenders across the country are overwhelmed with massive caseloads, and many lack access to adequate resources and technology. This legislation will incentivize attorneys to serve as state public defenders through requirements for pay parity with prosecutors and by improving the John R. Justice Program, which provides student loan repayment assistance.

“As a former public defender, I understand the passion that draws attorneys into public service – but passion doesn’t pay the bills.  Public defenders in Texas are struggling with the realities of enormous law school debt, heavy caseloads, minimum resources, and low pay.  These challenges have pushed too many civic-minded lawyers out of the field, resulting in a loss of experience, knowledge, and expertise that has infringed on low-income defendants’ fundamental right of effective representation under the law,” said Congresswoman Jasmine Crockett. “I’m proud to join my colleagues in introducing the EQUAL Defense Act to lower barriers to entry for lawyers interested in public defense.  By funding public service loan forgiveness, improving pay to be in parity with prosecutors, and guaranteeing public defender offices are fully-staffed with qualified, experienced attorneys, the EQUAL Defense Act helps ensure our citizen’s constitutional rights are protected.”

“The current public defender shortage is a threat to our criminal justice system and the rights of defendants,” said Congresswoman Suzanne Bonamici. “Years ago the Supreme Court held that people accused of a crime are guaranteed effective access to counsel, so investing in public defense systems is essential to equal justice under the law. Public defenders in Oregon and across the country are working tirelessly to serve the people they represent, but they are often overworked, underpaid, and understaffed. I’m grateful to work with my colleagues to introduce the bipartisan EQUAL Defense Act to hire more public defenders, improve public safety, and make our justice system more equitable.”

“Access to counsel is a fundamental right for all Americans,” said Congressman Kelly Armstrong. “I spent ten years as a criminal defense attorney and served as a state and federal public defender. I saw firsthand that our country has a chronic shortage of public defenders. Those we do have are overworked and underpaid, which increases burnout, reduces effectiveness, and ultimately hurts the justice system and public safety. This bill takes a step toward increasing public defense and ensuring access to representation. It’s the right thing to do.”

“Our criminal justice system is central to preserving order and ensuring that the laws that are put in place are followed. In order for the system to be effective, we must also allocate the necessary resources to the public defense system to address current challenges, including the public defender shortage and lack of timely legal assistance to those who might need it.,” said Representative Jenniffer González-Colón. “I am joining my colleague Suzanne Bonamici in introducing the EQUAL Defense Act, which will address these challenges by expanding grants programs to help fund public defense, increasing capacity training for public defenders, and properly incentivizing public defenders. These provisions will make it easier for public defenders to do their job without being overworked and for the governments to fulfill their constitutional obligation to provide effective legal advice and representation in criminal cases.”

The EQUAL Defense Act is supported by National Legal Aid & Defender Association (NLADA), American Bar Association (ABA), National Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers (NACDL), Gideon’s Promise, National Association for Public Defense (NAPD), Lawyers’ Committee for Civil Rights Under Law, Color of Change, and Project On Government Oversight.

"The American justice system requires that all persons accused of crimes have access to the effective assistance of counsel, regardless of the ability to pay,” said American Bar Association President Deborah Enix-Ross. “Public defenders allow the system to fulfill that requirement and reduce the chance that someone may be wrongly convicted or incarcerated. But public defenders need proper resources if they are to be on par with prosecutors. The EQUAL Defense Act would do this -- protecting the rights of the public and providing relief to the men and women who provide public defense services every day."

“Americans agree that the right counsel is essential to due process and to our concepts of liberty and equal justice, but many don’t know that public defender systems often cannot meet the promise of the Sixth Amendment,” said April Frazier Camara, President & CEO of the National Legal Aid & Defender Association. “Excessive workloads and inadequate resources for recruitment and staff retention can severely limit the quality and availability of legal counsel. The EQUAL Defense Act will provide an urgently-needed investment in these systems, which will prevent wrongful convictions and other unjust case outcomes, reduce government spending on incarceration, and strengthen our workforce by helping people avoid unnecessary collateral consequences that create barriers to employment and education.”

The Ensuring Quality Access to Legal (EQUAL) Defense Act would:

•    Create a $250 million grant program to help fund public defense and limit workload for full-time public defenders;

•    Establish pay parity between public defenders and prosecutors within five years;

•    Collect data on public defender workloads, including the number of hours worked per month and the percentage of hours worked per month on a range of tasks;

•    Provide $5 million for non-profit and government organizations for comprehensive training for public defenders;

•    Require Byrne-JAG recipients to provide data on the extent to which the state is providing public defenders for indigent people in the criminal justice system; and

•    Reauthorize the John R. Justice student loan program, increase the program’s overall authorization amount from $25 million to $75 million, and increase per borrower repayment limits.

A fact sheet on the legislation can be found here, and the full text can be found here. Senator Booker and Judiciary Committee Chairman Durbin lead similar legislation in the Senate.

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Congresswoman Jasmine Crockett represents portions of Dallas and Tarrant Counties, with the cities of Dallas, Grand Prairie, DeSoto, Cedar Hill, Lancaster, Duncanville, Glenn Heights, Hutchins, Wilmer, Arlington, Ovilla, and Seagoville.

Original source can be found here.