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79 cases, 347 documents
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INDIGENT DEFENSE
State v. Covington

19-01494 | Louisiana state trial court

Filed Date: 2018

Closed Date: Dec. 11, 2020

In this case, a Louisiana appellate court held that courts could not lawfully assign lawyers (in particular, public defenders) a larger caseload than they could competently handle. The Public Defender's evidence in this case established that the Louisiana public defense system currently has the capacity to handle only 21 percent of its workload with reasonable competence and effectiveness. See State v. Spears, No. 2019 KW 1494, 2020 WL 1230134 (La. Court of Appeal, First Circuit, March 13, 2020…
INDIGENT DEFENSE
Robbins v. Maine Commission on Indigent Legal Services

CV-22-54 | Maine state trial court

Filed Date: March 1, 2022

Case Ongoing

This class-action lawsuit challenged Maine’s system of appointing private attorneys to provide representation to indigent criminal defendants. On March 1, 2022, five people currently being represented in criminal proceedings by appointed counsel filed a complaint and motion for class certification in Maine’s Kennebec County Superior Court. The plaintiffs sued the executive director of the Maine Commission on Indigent Legal Services in his official capacity, the chair of the Maine Commission on …
INDIGENT DEFENSE
In re Reassignment and Consolidation of Public Defender’s Motions to Appoint Other Counsel in Unappointed Noncapital Felony Cases

Florida state trial court

Filed Date: 2008

Closed Date: 2013

In July 2008, Judge Stanford Blake in the Circuit Court of Florida's Eleventh Judicial Circuit held a hearing on the motion of the Dade County Public Defender, who asked that his lawyers be excused from appointments in all felony cases, except capital cases, in Miami’s 21 felony courtrooms. The public defender argued that underfunding of his office had led to excessive caseloads, and that his lawyers could not ethically or legally accept additional non-capital felonies. On September 3, 2008, th…
INDIGENT DEFENSE
Hurrell-Harring v. State of New York

07-08866 | New York state trial court

Filed Date: Nov. 8, 2007

Case Ongoing

On November 8, 2007, 20 named plaintiffs--criminal defendants with cases pending in New York state courts--filed this class action lawsuit in the Supreme Court of the State of New York in Albany County. The plaintiffs sued the State under 42 U.S.C. §1983 for violations of the Sixth and the Fourteenth Amendment to the U.S. Constitution, and Article 1, Section 6 of the New York Constitution. Represented by the New York Civil Liberties Union and private counsel, plaintiffs sought declaratory and i…
INDIGENT DEFENSE
Cantwell v. Crawford

09-00275 | Georgia state trial court

Filed Date: April 7, 2009

Closed Date: Dec. 20, 2012

On April 7, 2009, indigent pretrial detainees who had not been appointed counsel filed this class action lawsuit under 42 U.S.C. § 1983 and state statutory law against the State of Georgia in the Superior Court for the County of Elbert, Georgia. The plaintiffs, represented by the Southern Center for Human Rights, asked the court for declaratory and injunctive relief, claiming that the failure to appoint counsel to them violated their constitutional rights. Specifically, plaintiffs claimed that …
INDIGENT DEFENSE
Gardner v. Luckey

8:71-00561 | U.S. District Court for the Middle District of Florida

Filed Date: 1973

Closed Date: 1974

In 1971, indigent criminal defendants who had been separately convicted of Florida crimes filed a class action lawsuit in the United States District Court for the Middle District of Florida against the state public defender offices pursuant to state law and 42 U.S.C.A. § 1983. Plaintiffs were represented by private counsel. They alleged that the public defender's office failed to meet minimum constitutional standards of effective representation due to inadequate funding and excessive caseloads.…
INDIGENT DEFENSE
Wallace v. Kern

1:72-00898 | U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of New York

Filed Date: July 3, 1972

Closed Date: 1974

In late 1972, several actions were consolidated into this litigation. One case involved a lawsuit by a class of plaintiffs under 42 U.S.C. § 1983. Another case involved a class action that had not been certified, also under 42 U.S.C. § 1983. One case was brought by public interest lawyers, while the other was brought by pro se prisoners. The prisoner plaintiffs were all awaiting trial, indictment, or sentence in the Brooklyn House of Detention for Men (BHD). The cases were all brought in the U…
INDIGENT DEFENSE
Harris v. Champion

4:90-cv-00448 | U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Oklahoma

Filed Date: May 22, 1990

Closed Date: 1997

This action arose from a habeas petition filed on May 22, 1990 in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Oklahoma. After he was convicted of forcible sodomy, assault and battery with a dangerous weapon, and sentenced to 15 years in state prison, the petitioner invoked his right to appeal and requested counsel on September 29, 1988. Due to understaffing/ underfunding, the Oklahoma Appellate Public Defender did not immediately file that appeal. Instead, on May 11, 1989, the public …
INDIGENT DEFENSE
Flora v. Luzerne County

3:12-cv-00665 | U.S. District Court for the Middle District of Pennsylvania

Filed Date: April 10, 2012

On April 10, 2012, the Public Defender of Luzerne County, Pennsylvania filed a lawsuit in the United States District Court for the Middle District of Pennsylvania under 42 U.S.C. § 1983 against Luzerne County. Represented by the ACLU of Pennsylvania, the plaintiff alleged that his termination was threatened because of complaints he had made against the county about the lack of funding for the public defender's office, lack of attorneys for the public defender's office, and inability to adequate…
INDIGENT DEFENSE
Tesmer v. Granholm

1:00-cv-10082 | U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Michigan

Filed Date: March 2, 2000

Closed Date: 2005

In 1994, the Michigan State Constitution was amended to provide that a defendant who pled guilty would be allowed to appeal only by leave of court and not by right or as a matter of course. Following the amendment, some state judges engaged in the practice of denying the appointment of appellate counsel to indigent defendants who pled guilty. In 2000, the Legislature codified this practice by passing a statute which prohibited (with certain mandatory and permissive exceptions) the appointment…