What Pennsylvania’s failure to fund public defenders means across the commonwealth

by Veronica Miller and Ari Shapell

In one county, an attorney who was just one year out of law school was appointed as chief public defender.

In another, a single public defender handles approximately 250 to 300 adult criminal cases, about 100 juvenile cases, and a number of administrative hearings.

Yet another county appoints “standby” attorneys to represent indigent people — those who cannot afford a private attorney — just minutes before their criminal court hearing. One person compared his 30-second interaction with a standby attorney to patronizing a “fast food” restaurant. He was convinced by his standby attorney to plead guilty without any investigation or preparation in his case.

This is just a small snapshot of evidence in our lawsuit against the state over its failure to fund public defenders. As it stands, the commonwealth, excluding the Defender Association of Philadelphia, is tied with Mississippi for dead last in per capita funding of public defenders.

While we welcome Governor Josh Shapiro’s proposal of $10 million for public defenders in his most recent budget, that dollar amount doesn’t begin to address the decades of neglect that have led to this crisis. Public defenders offices have been financially underwater for so long that offices need an immediate infusion of money to stabilize the office’s work, then the governor and legislature must work to address the remaining funding shortfalls. What was originally proposed at $10 million became $7.5 million when the budget was passed. This is nowhere near the amount necessary to meet the needs of Pennsylvania’s public defenders considering the grants most offices received averaged only around $100,000.

The funding crisis puts unfair pressure on public defenders. Defenders are public servants who have chosen to take on the honorable job of providing counsel to those who cannot afford a private attorney. They have chosen this profession despite there being plenty of more lucrative opportunities for lawyers in private practice, or even in county district attorney offices, which are better funded than defender offices in every single county across the commonwealth.

But despite the dedication to the ideals of liberty and justice in the criminal legal system that they embrace, Pennsylvania’s public defenders simply aren’t given the resources they need to provide the kind of rigorous defense of indigent clients that both the state and U.S. Constitutions demand.

One recent study found that 64 of Pennsylvania’s 67 counties did not have enough public defender attorneys to meet the standards set forth in the National Public Defense Workload Study. The same study identified 47 counties that would need to more than double their attorney staffing levels to meet the national standards.

Non-attorney support staff like social workers and investigators play crucial roles in effective indigent defense representation. Yet, only a small minority of county public defender offices employed a dedicated social worker; less than half employed an investigator.

Training and supervision are also key to setting up public defenders for success. But most county public defender offices lack a comprehensive training program. New public defender attorneys are frequently asked to represent clients with limited, or no, formal training. Attorneys in many public defender offices also receive no meaningful supervision, either because the office has no formal supervision program or because their supervisor does not have the time to devote to supervision.

Pennsylvania deserves better. Those who have been charged with a crime and cannot afford a private attorney deserve a public defender who has the time and resources to provide constitutionally required representation. Public defenders who choose a path of public service for their careers deserve the resources to effectively do their jobs.

We hope that our lawsuit will ultimately lead to adequate funding for the critical job that public defenders perform. We can’t afford to wait. Lives are on the line.

Veronica Miller is senior policy counsel for criminal legal reform at the ACLU of Pennsylvania. Ari Shapell is the Toll Public Interest fellowship attorney at the ACLU of Pennsylvania.