Federal Public Defender Program Faces Crisis as Funding Dries Up, Threatening Indigent Defense
Federal Public Defender Program Faces Crisis as Funding Dries Up, Threatening Indigent Defense The federal program responsible for compensating private attorneys who represent indigent criminal defendants has run out of funds, triggering a financial crisis that threatens to cripple the constitutional right to counsel. As of early July, the Criminal Justice Act (CJA) program, which pays court-appointed lawyers, ceased payments for work already performed, leaving thousands of attorneys and their support staff unpaid. This severe funding shortfall impacts over 12,000…