When you look at the current state of public defense in the state of Washington—indeed, nationwide—you will encounter words like “crisis,” “languish,” and “collapse.” Specifically, there’s a crisis in our public defense system in which many people are left to languish indefinitely without representation and without a fundamental corrective shift the system itself is under threat of collapse.
If that sounds like hyperbole, unfortunately, it’s far from it.
“To me this is semi pro bono work,” said Shelley Ajax, a contract public defense attorney in Benton County who, like so many other public defenders, is unable to keep up with the work. “People have to be dedicated to the service or the system will collapse. Well, the system’s collapsing now for other reasons.”
The obvious solution is to limit the number of clients and cases that any public defender has to work in a given moment. In fact, that’s the solution on the table. The problem with the solution, however, is that it will cost more money than is currently available just to maintain the current system.
“I love the idea of having fewer cases,” said Dustin Howie, a public defender for the city of Spokane. “I think it’s necessary and something they should do. I just don’t know how they’re going to come up with the funding.”
As the WSBA continues to explore the crisis in public defense, we shadowed Ajax and Howie to see what it’s like to spend a day in their shoes. In the latest issue of Washington State Bar News, you can see what we’ve learned from them, as well as other public defense experts in Washington.
The June issue of Bar News also features other important legal news and information, including legislative updates for employment attorneys, an ethics analysis of deposition misconduct, and tips for when and how to include visuals in legal writing.
