“It’s a system that encourages unethical behavior,' said one public defense attorney. '...It’s most certainly not justice. No one feels like it’s justice.”
Editor's note: This story is part of 'Broken Defense,' an investigative series from Lee Enterprises. More details about this project can be found at the bottom of this article.It’s Thursday in December 2021. The sky is dark. Gibson is the last person in the Portland Multnomah Defenders office.
Staff shortages and decades of underfunding have created public defense systems crises across the West. Public defenders say they’re unable to serve clients effectively as they grapple with crushing caseloads, few resources, burnout, student debt and low pay. A public defender should not represent more than 150 felonies, 400 misdemeanors, 200 juvenile delinquency cases or 25 appeals in a year, according to guidelines from the National Advisory Commission on Criminal Justice Standards and Goals .
More than 100 Idaho private attorneys and full-time public defenders had more public defense cases than the state’s maximum, which allows attorneys to take on more work than the national standards, according to Idaho Public Defense Commission data. An additional 65 attorneys worked too many cases, based on the national standards.
Oregon and New Mexico have one third the attorneys they need to provide adequate representation, according to American Bar Association studies from last year. State Public Defender Diane Lozano said high turnover caused “constitutionally inappropriate caseloads” in Campbell County’s seven-attorney office.
Public defenders can lose their license if they take on more clients than they can competently represent or recommend a plea before they complete the case investigation, according to the American Bar Association’s conduct rules. “It just scared me to death,” Rudd said. “I was like, ‘I’m going to lose my license. I cannot effectively represent this many people. I can’t do it.’”
“It’s a system that encourages unethical behavior," Gibson said."You’re not actually prepared for those cases. No one is. You’re just trying to move those cases along and process these people. It’s most certainly not justice. No one feels like it’s justice.” Most prosecutors earn more. A Madison County deputy prosecutor position pays $40 an hour, and entry-level prosecutors in Missoula and Bozeman earn $41 and $54 per hour, respectively.
Gibson’s salary was about $70,000 when he left Oregon with about $150,000 in student loan debt that grows by about $1,000 each month. She became busier over her three years there, sometimes going days with no sleep. The quality of her representation diminished.
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