ACLU lawsuit challenges waiting list for PD representation
The American Civil Liberties Union has filed a federal lawsuit that claims arrestees are being placed on a waiting list for a public defender in New Orleans in violation of their Sixth and 14th Amendment rights.
The would-be class-action suit says the three name plaintiffs were put on a waiting list by the Orleans Parish Public Defender’s office, which is refusing to accept the plaintiffs as clients because of budgetary shortages and excessive caseloads. The plaintiffs, who have been detained on felony accusations, “must languish indefinitely in jail without counsel” until the office can provide a lawyer, the suit (PDF) says.
The public defender’s office in New Orleans began refusing new clients accused of serious felonies on Tuesday, the New Orleans Advocate reports.
About two-thirds of Louisiana’s budget for public defenders comes from a $45 fee assessed primarily on traffic tickets, the suit says. No other state is as dependent on local fines and fees to fund indigent defense, according to the suit.
Brandon Buskey, staff attorney with the ACLU’s Criminal Law Reform Project, says in a press release that the damage caused to the case of an arrestee placed on the waiting list “can be irreparable.”
“So long as you’re on the public defender waiting list in New Orleans, you’re helpless. Your legal defense erodes along with your constitutional rights,” Buskey said. “With every hour without an attorney, you may forever lose invaluable opportunities to build your defense. You also may be forced into a crippling choice between waiting months for counsel or doing bail and plea negotiations yourself.”
The suit alleges the waiting list violates the arrestees’ Sixth and 14th Amendment rights to counsel, and discriminates based on wealth in violation of the 14th Amendment right to due process and equal protection.
