Categories | Lawsuits & Litigation Article

Louisiana Public Defender System Funding Crisis

February 13th, 2017 • Lawsuits & Litigation • 2 minute read
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Author Sara E. Teller

Louisiana Public Defender System Funding Crisis

A lawsuit was filed last Monday alleging defendants from Louisiana are extremely under-served by the state's public defender system.  The issue with the system appears to be that it's underfunded. The Lawyer's Committee for Civil Rights Under Law, the Southern Poverty Law Center and attorneys from the law firms Jones Walker of New Orleans and Davis, Polk & Wardell of New York have joined forces with plaintiffs who are claiming the financial crisis is grossly limiting resources.  The state uses a funding model unlike any other in the United States, relying on the profits brought in by court fees and fines and traffic violations, which makes resources completely unpredictable.

Images Courtesy of Citizens for Change NetworkImages Courtesy of Citizens for Change Network

The American Civil Liberties Union of Louisiana first sued the state after Orleans Public Defenders began to refuse taking on new cases, but this was ultimately dismissed earlier this month due to concerns over issues with federalism.  Judge James J. Brady stated the plaintiffs should take their case to the statehouse, adding, "Budget shortages are no excuse to violate the United States Constitution."  The new case was filed by thirteen defendants who would act as lead plaintiffs and it's anticipated there could be as many as 20,000 individuals in total.  Named defendants of the class action include Governor John Bel Edwards, Chief State Public Defender Jay Dixon and members of the Louisiana Public Defender Board.  The lawsuit serves primarily as a last ditch effort to squeeze out funding from the state government.  It also seeks for the court to appoint someone to supervise the system until the financial issues have successfully been rectified.  "This suit seeks to bring long overdue relief to communities that have literally been left defenseless for far too long," says Kristen Clarke, President and Executive Director of the Lawyers' Committee for Civil Rights Under Law.  Similar lawsuits alleging financial crisis are being filed in at least six other states.  

Sources:

Class action lawsuit alleges Louisiana public defender funding system denies right to counselNew indigent defense lawsuit targets Gov. Edwards, state public defenders board 
Sara E. Teller

About Sara E. Teller

Sara is a credited freelance writer, editor, contributor, and essayist, as well as a novelist and poet with nearly twenty years of experience. A seasoned publishing professional, she's worked for newspapers, magazines and book publishers in content digitization, editorial, acquisitions and intellectual property. Sara has been an invited speaker at a Careers in Publishing & Authorship event at Michigan State University and a Reading and Writing Instructor at Sylvan Learning Center. She has an MBA degree with a concentration in Marketing and an MA in Clinical Mental Health Counseling, graduating with a 4.2/4.0 GPA. She is also a member of Chi Sigma Iota and a 2020 recipient of the Donald D. Davis scholarship recognizing social responsibility. Sara is certified in children's book writing, HTML coding and social media marketing. Her fifth book, PTSD: Healing from the Inside Out, was released in September 2019 and is available on Amazon. You can find her others books there, too, including Narcissistic Abuse: A Survival Guide, released in December 2017.

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