Amid public defender shortage, WA Bar Association suggests caseload limits
Since the 1963 Gideon decision by the U.S. Supreme Court, the right to a lawyer has been guaranteed to defendants facing criminal charges – even if they can’t afford to pay.
Advocates say that guarantee is in jeopardy in our state because of a lack of personnel. Washington State public defenders are in short supply and that’s having cascading effects on the criminal legal system.
The Washington State Bar Association is recommending a counterintuitive solution to the shortage: they want to cap the number of cases that public defenders can take on in a year, but the plan has its detractors…
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