Public defenders represent over two-thirds of criminal defendants.

Evidence

Access to legal representation has not only improved the lot of indigent defendants but has also increased the fairness of the criminal justice system. Nonetheless, some critics have charged that because public defender offices are chronically underfunded and understaffed, public defenders lack the time to provide their clients with an adequate defense. Other critics have complained that public defenders have used liberal Supreme Court rulings to manipulate the criminal justice system and secure the release of guilty defendants. Whatever their validity, these allegations underscore the crucial role that public defenders play today. Public defenders provide legal representation for more than two-thirds of criminal defendants. — G. Alan Tarr, Judicial Process and Judicial…, 724

Categorization

• QUESTION: Worth chasing: the empirical validity of critiques that public-defender underfunding undermines defense quality, and the two-thirds statistic’s source and date.
• XREF: Connects to debates over plea-bargaining and the bounded constitutional right to counsel. — connects to: Courts-appointed private counsel systematically underprepared criminal defenses. — G. Alan Tarr, Judicial Process and Judicial…, 723

Broader Connections

• Courts-appointed private counsel systematically underprepared criminal defenses. #qualifies (0.76) — G. Alan Tarr, Judicial Process and Judicial…, 723