Oregon public defense commission drafts ‘crisis plan’ to cut number of defendants without lawyers

OPB

Center

High Factuality

Government: Oregon Public Broadcasting

Oregon Public Defense Commission details multi-pronged efforts to stem public defender crisis

In the last few years, the state has come under intense criticism from civil rights advocates for its failure to provide constitutionally mandated defense attorneys to people charged with crimes if they cannot afford them. A 2022 report by the American Bar Association found the state had barely a third of the lawyers it needed to represent defendants who qualified for a public defender. Since then, lawakers and state officials have significantly…