Bonamici Introduces Bill to Address Public Defense Shortage

WASHINGTON, DC [11/17/22] – Today Congresswoman Suzanne Bonamici introduced legislation to support public defenders and address the public defense shortage.

The Ensuring Quality Access to Legal (EQUAL) Defense Act would improve access to counsel by providing $250 million in funding for public defense grants. The bill will also help to address workload limits, establish pay parity between public defenders and prosecutors within five years, and more.

Currently, public defenders across the country are overwhelmed with massive caseloads. Many lack access to adequate resources, technology, and training programs, and they are not paid commensurate with their abilities and responsibilities. The American Bar Association estimates that Oregon’s public defense system alone is short nearly 1,300 attorneys.

“Public defenders are an essential part of our criminal justice system, and people accused of a crime have a right to counsel,” said Congresswoman Suzanne Bonamici.  “Right now, we have a dangerous shortage of public defenders and the public defenders we do have are struggling under burdensome caseloads and conditions. My former colleague, Congressman Ted Deutch, previously led this legislation to improve access to counsel nationally and limit unnecessary incarceration costs. I’m leading the EQUAL Defense Act to finally secure the resources that our public defenders and people in the criminal justice system need and deserve.”

“Absent counsel, criminal prosecutions cannot move forward” said Multnomah County District Attorney Mike Schmidt. “Victim and defendant’s rights are equally essential to the administration of justice. When there is a lack of existing public defenders to handle cases, hollowed pipelines of new attorneys to enter the field due to both expense and long term financial stability, victims and the accused lose access to justice. The Ensuring Quality Access to Legal (EQUAL) Defense Act seeks to remedy all of these issues, for safer more just communities.”

The EQUAL Defense Act is supported by the National Legal Aid & Defender Association (NLADA), National Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers (NACDL), Gideon's Promise, National Association for Public Defense (NAPD), and Project On Government Oversight.

“We applaud the reintroduction of the EQUAL Defense Act, which is an urgently needed and transformative law that will help states to finally meet the promise of equal justice,” said April Frazier Camara, President and CEO of National Legal Aid & Defender Association. “People who have been accused of crimes have the right to representation. We essentially undermine due process and compromise the ability of people to seek true justice when public defenders are forced to handle too many cases with too few resources. The EQUAL Defense Act will ensure that public defenders have the resources they need to ensure that people receive the best representation possible. We are grateful to Congresswoman Bonamici for her leadership in sponsoring the EQUAL Defense Act.”

"The right to counsel is the right from which all other protections in the Constitution flow,” said Sarah Turberville, Director of The Constitution Project at the Project On Government Oversight. “The dramatic disparity in resources and capacity faced by defender systems throughout the country must be addressed and this legislation takes a very important step forward to close that gap. POGO is very grateful for Congressman Bonamici's leadership on this critical issue."

The Ensuring Quality Access to Legal (EQUAL) Defense Act would:

• • Create a $250 million grant program to help fund public defense, which will limit workload for full-time public defenders
  • Establish pay parity between public defenders and prosecutors within five years
  • Collect data on public defender workloads, including the number of hours worked per month and the percentage of hours worked per month on a range of tasks
• Provide $5 million for non-profit and government organizations to provide comprehensive training for public defenders
• Require Byrne-JAG recipients to provide data on the extent to which the state is providing public defenders for indigent people in the criminal justice system
• Reauthorize the student loan program, increase the overall authorization amount from $25 million to $75 million, and increase per borrower repayment limits

A fact sheet on the legislation can be found here, and the full text can be found here. It is co-sponsored by Representatives Sheila Jackson Lee (D-TX), Mondaire Jones (D-NY), Eleanor Holmes Norton (D-DC), Donald Payne, Jr. (D-NJ), Mary Gay Scanlon (D-PA), and Jan Schakowsky (D-IL).