No Justice Without Equal Justice

Senator Hughes recently contributed an op-ed to the Legal Intelligencer to explain why Pennsylvania’s first time funding for indigent defense and public defenders is an important step toward making the Commonwealth’s criminal justice system equal and fair for all.

We invite you to read the op-ed and join the fight for a universally equal and fair criminal justice system for all in Pennsylvania.

Justice for All

For Americans, the notion of liberty and justice for all is supported by the Sixth and Fourteenth Amendment, and the 1963 Gideon v. Wainwright Supreme Court decision, yet access to proper indigent defense across the country is lacking.

There are few legal professionals who don’t have anecdotes about overworked and underpaid public defenders in their region. There are likely zero public defenders who would say the current system is working for everyone.

This is a national problem, but it’s felt acutely in Pennsylvania. As of 2021, over half of criminal cases in Pennsylvania utilized a public defender yet the Commonwealth ranks 45th in total indigent defense funding.

Several counties are operating with two thirds or fewer of the attorney staff they’re allotted because salaries are so low, they can’t hire enough staff. Meanwhile, the attorneys who are public defenders are struggling to keep up with caseloads and their clients are not receiving the quality of counsel they are due. 

We know Pennsylvania public defenders need more staff, better case management systems, and established standards and best practices that meet United States and Pennsylvania constitutional mandates. This new money and the IDAC will deliver on that, with funds likely going out to counties starting in June.

With this new money and the IDAC, indigent defense in Pennsylvania will no longer be an afterthought in our criminal justice system. The first order of business will likely be to bring on more attorneys and support staff to help offices with overwhelming numbers of caseloads. The IDAC has also recently adopted Pennsylvania’s first standards on indigent defense.

As they continue their work, they’ll provide more on standards for effective indigent defense, legal education courses and trainings, and caseload data assessments and reports. And we anticipate meaningful updates to case management systems, another prominent pain point in offices.

At a press conference we recently hosted to celebrate the new funding and IDAC, we heard a story about one public defender who had almost 1,000 cases on their docket, two of which were homicides. Another anecdote from a small county in Southwest PA told the story of an attorney who was hired as Chief Defender as her first job as a lawyer. She was about a year out of law school, never tried a case, never handled an appeal, and never even interned in a Public Defender’s office. Her predecessor had quit because he thought his caseload was so high, he could not ethically handle represent his clients. Her sole support was one, part-time attorney- no support staff, no social workers, no investigators.

We also heard from Ron Johnson, a recent exoneree who wrongfully spent 34 years in prison, largely because his court appointed attorney did not offer proper defense counsel. There are stories of struggle and horror from all sides of the system, and that is why we will continue to fight for more funding and more support.

While there are still challenges, there is also a lot of possibility and hope for a better system of indigent in Pennsylvania. At the press conference, attorney Kevin Harden, a member of the Barristers’ Association of Philadelphia, explained that he is a second generation public defender client- his journey to becoming a lawyer wouldn’t have been possible without the public defender who helped his father. To support indigent defense is noble and needed. As Christine Lora, Chief of the Montgomery County Public Defender’s Office, put it- these are gladiators in suits.

As state lawmakers prepare to negotiate funding and support for indigent defense in the next budget, we must continue to make indigent defense a priority. Governor Shapiro has proposed allocating $10 million for indigent defense in the FY24-25 budget. As Appropriations Chair for the Senate Democratic Caucus, I will encourage lawmakers on both sides of the aisle to support that allocation, if not more, and stay committed to keeping this fund and committee alive and active.

It’s important the legal community stay aware and up to date on this issue. We can all agree that both sides of the courtroom need to have equal access to resources for justice to truly be carried out. Without proper and quality indigent defense, more victims suffer at the hands of our criminal defense system. People go to jail who shouldn’t, the actual perpetrators are not held accountable, and loved ones of victims get no real closure. We need to view this as an issue that impacts the entire community.

As we get closer to the deadline for the FY24-25 budget, I encourage all legal professionals to stay engaged. Help spread the word about the historic changes we were able to achieve for indigent defense in 2023 and the additional work we must do to fully fix the system. Follow this issue and what comes next for indigent defense in Pennsylvania.