Justice in Jeopardy?By Jennifer Burnett | Wednesday, July 7, 2010 at 12:00 am In the face of an economic recession and budget constraints, states are finding it more difficult to provide a constitutionally mandated public defense attorney for indigent criminal defendants. |
Justice in Jeopardy: Budget Cuts Put State Public Defense Systems Under StressBy Jennifer Burnett | Thursday, July 1, 2010 at 12:00 am An $11 million shortfall in North Carolina’s Office of Indigent Defense budget could have a ripple effect throughout the state’s criminal justice system. Public defenders handle about 32 percent of indigent cases, and the Office of Indigent Defense Services contracts with private attorneys to handle the rest. But the 2011 fiscal year shortfall puts that legal service in jeopardy. |
