“HOLD TIGHT,” is a phrase that’s often on the lips of Neal
Weingart, a Portland public defender with Multnomah Defenders, Inc. who
handles criminal cases for defendants too poor to afford a private
lawyer.
Weingart’s clients clamored for his attention in the crowded marble
hallways of the Multnomah County Courthouse on SW 4th last Friday,
January 30, as he carried a stack of folders containing copies of legal
documents up a flight of stairs to a judge for processing.
He works long hours and hasn’t had a vacation since he started work
as a defender two years ago: Weingart and his fellow public defenders
often stand between their clients and lengthy jail sentences, and the
work is as important as it is stressful. In a courtroom that Weingart
rushed in and out of last week, a translated slogan in Latin read,
“Justice delayed is justice denied.”
But as the state faces serious budget cuts, this slogan could become
a reality. The state’s budget for public defenders, which is already
chronically shortchanged, could be slashed even further.
Thanks to the recession, the state budget shortfall reached the $1
billion mark last month. Currently the legislature and Governor Ted
Kulongoski are testily hammering out a new budget for the next two
years, and it looks like public defenders will be hit hard. The
governor’s proposed budget slashes funding to public defenders to 6.6
percent below what the Public Defense Services Commission describes as
its “essential budget level.” Meanwhile, it gives a nearly 10 percent
bump to deputy district attorneys.
No one is quite sure what this will mean for the public defense
system, but by all accounts the public defense system is already
horrendously under funded and over burdened. The state’s 800 public
defenders could well find themselves stretched thinner with even less
time to spend on cases. This could mean they’ll be less effective in
negotiating deals with prosecutors, and that people who can’t afford
private attorneys will wait months to have their day in court.
“We could see a potential collapse of the system,” says Ingrid
Swenson, the executive director of Oregon’s Office of Public Defense
Services.
In 2003, the state budget took a dive and Oregon was in a similar
jam. During this time period some misdemeanor trials were delayed by
months. This made the work of prosecutors and defenders more difficult
since witnesses disappeared and some defendants stopped showing up for
court dates. Some cases never made it to trial at all.
“When you cut defense services it hurts the whole system,” says
Multnomah County District Attorney Michael Schrunk. He adds that if
cuts to defense services are deep enough this time around, prosecutors
might have to stop prosecuting low-level crimes.
According to the Office of Public Defenders, 27,000 cases were set
over in 2003, meaning that they were delayed, “at least untill the
following year.”
Weingart, who helped shoulder some of the 3,720 cases handled by
public defenders in Multnomah County last year, says that he’s had
cases where the client had a strong claim against the charges being
brought against them—but his client had to wait months to have
their day in court.
“Even the average citizen can be falsely accused of a crime,” says
Weingart, who adds that the cuts represent a potential “nightmare
scenario.”
“The government isn’t always right; the police aren’t always right,”
he adds.
According to the 2007 annual report of the Public Defense Services
Commission, public defenders are paid an average of between $45 to $60
per case, which is one sixth of what they say deputy district attorneys
make.
“We’re already operating on the margin,” says Swenson.
Mark McKechnie, the executve director of the nonprofit Juvenile
Rights Project (JRP), which contracts with the state to provide public
defense services for juveniles, says that revenue from state contracts
already lags behind inflation. He adds that budget cuts will likely
mean that JRP attorneys will have more cases and be paid less
money.
“We don’t have many choices,” says McKechnie, who explains that JRP
has already had to cut health benefits for its attorneys and might have
to institute salary freezes. The already crushing workload and low pay
has made it difficult to recruit and retain attorneys, he adds.
However, State Representative Chip Shields, who co-chairs the Public
Safety Subcommittee of Ways and Means—the Salem committee that
oversees the budget for public defense—is planning on turning the
crisis into an opportunity.
“Every criminal justice policy and budget should be on the table for
negotiation,” says Shields.
Calls to the governor’s office were not returned by press time.
So endow the prosecutors & the police with even greater powers, NOT for “fighting crime”, but for jailing people & extorting money.
Arrest & cite people at will & then clip the wings & snatch the foundation out from under citizens who’re already too poor to defend themselves in ANY sort of meaningful way. THAT’S THE TICKET!
Have i got news for you – PEOPLE ALREADY WAIT MONTHES TO GO TO TRIAL ON MISDEAMENORS!!!!! A person is arrested [or cited for extortion] for whatever reason – maybe the cops are assholes – endure the jailing process, which takes b/t 6-7 hours, & is given a date to appear in court. Then given another date. And another date. And another date. These are all *pre-trial hearings i’m talking about, & a person can have alot of ’em before he/she finally makes it to trial. If that trial ever happens.
I’ve got more news for ya – a person may have to take precious time off work in order to attend a pre-trial hearing. But for anyone who’s not really familiar with how all this shit works (& i barely am, myself), a *pre-trial isn’t at all what you think it might be. Just because YOU show up, doesn’t mean that all the OTHER people you think should be there WILL. Your lawyer/PD may not be there; you might only meet [briefly] with his/her assistance. The prosecutor may or may not be there. The dumbass cop/s who arrested or cited you are almost NEVER there – not for pre-trials. You may not even see the inside of a courtroom. You may spend all of your time standing around in the hallway. Or, you may sit in one courtroom for an hour, only to be told to go to another courtroom.
Also, depending on where you work & how you get there, it can cost you an ENTIRE DAYS’ WORK to show up in court for [as little as] 20 minutes only to be handed a piece of paper with a future court date. A piece of paper that JUST AS EASILY COULD HAVE BEEN MAILED TO YOU! Then again, you could spend close to 3 hours inside that courthouse, depending on how late your lawyer/PD might be.
And as for D.A. Michael D. Schrunk – this guy is a complete ASS & a goddamn liar; don’t ever believe a word he says! I can give you more details on him later.
As a wiser and wittier lawyer than I pointed out to me about a month ago, Public Defender is the only job in the criminal justice system that is required to be performed. The US Constitution says so.
The Constitution does not require that cases be prosecuted. It does not require that cops arrest “criminals.” It does not require that crime be investigated. It does not require jails to be built.
What the Constitution requires is that if you are going to have a criminal justice system, if you are going to build jails, hire police, and fund a prosecutor’s office, you MUST provide an adequate defense. If you don’t want to do all those things, then, by all means, don’t fund the defense.
I intend to work “balls to the walls” until the system runs out of money. See how the legislature likes them apples.
As a wiser and wittier lawyer than I pointed out to me about a month ago, Public Defender is the only job in the criminal justice system that is required to be performed. The US Constitution says so.
The Constitution does not require that cases be prosecuted. It does not require that cops arrest “criminals.” It does not require that crime be investigated. It does not require jails to be built.
What the Constitution requires is that if you are going to have a criminal justice system, if you are going to build jails, hire police, and fund a prosecutor’s office, you MUST provide an adequate defense. If you don’t want to do all those things, then, by all means, don’t fund the defense.
I intend to work “balls to the walls” until the system runs out of money. See how the legislature likes them apples.
Oops. Sorry. Posted twice. That’s what happens when my blood boils.
No need for apologies, missconductpdx. This shit can be quite infuriating!
“According to the 2007 annual report of the Public Defense Services Commission, public defenders are paid an average of between $45 to $60 per case, which is one sixth of what they say deputy district attorneys make.”
This doesn’t make sense. Public defenders are salaried, as are DDAs. Yes, in general PDs make less than DDAs, but not 1/6th less. Maybe you’re trying to say that PDs deal with more cases than DDAs? If so, then say that. The way you wrote it makes it sound like PDs make 1/6th of the salary of a DDA, which is certainly not true.
Public Defenders are actually contracted out by the state by case.