ALBANY, N.Y. (AP) — The U.S. Justice Department says a state court should consider structural deficiencies in deciding whether New York should increase legal services for indigent defendants.
The Justice Department takes no position on the merits of a pending lawsuit. But it says the court should consider limitations like understaffing and high workloads and whether they prevent needed client conferences, investigation and challenges to prosecutions as required by constitutional case law.
The New York Civil Liberties Union, in a lawsuit now heading to trial, says the state systemically provides inadequate staff and money for constitutionally required defense lawyers.
The Office of Indigent Legal Services reports caseloads for public defenders in New York City are within recommended limits but in the state’s 57 other counties those attorneys average 680 cases each, nearly double the limits.
