Lawyers Sue over ‘Walmartization’ of Ga. Public Defender System
Critics have sued the director of Georgia’s public defender system for closing an office that handles conflicts cases in the Atlanta area and hiring contract lawyers to do the work.
Critics say replacing 16 full-time lawyers with contract workers amounts to a “Walmartization” of the legal system that harms representation for indigent defendants, the Associated Press reports. The fired full-time lawyers had handled cases posing a conflict for local public defenders.
The lawsuit, filed by the Southern Center for Human Rights, claims the contract lawyers have an incentive to spend as little time as possible on each case and to find new employment as soon as possible. The public defender system, on the other hand, has an incentive to hire lawyers who are unlikely to find other employment, the suit argues.
Lawmakers have cut funding for the public defender system from $42 million to $35 million in the last three years. System director Mack Crawford told AP that budget cuts forced him to close the office.
