“You have the right to an attorney, if you cannot afford an attorney, one will be appointed for you.”
It’s not just a line from a TV police drama, it’s a constitutional right for anyone charged with a crime. When you cannot afford an attorney, that’s where a public defender comes in.
A lawsuit filed by the American Civil Liberties Union in 2015 claims Idaho’s public defense system falls short.
The class-action lawsuit was filed in 2015, but was then dismissed in 2016 because the judge ruled the claims were not justiciable on standing, ripeness, and separation of grounds. The ACLU appealed the decision and the case went before the Idaho Supreme Court. In April of 2017, the Idaho Supreme Court remanded the case to District Court for further proceedings.
A Fourth Judicial District Court ruled on Wednesday the lawsuit can move forward as a class-action lawsuit, meaning anyone who feels they didn’t received adequate counsel from their public defender can join the lawsuit.
“This is about really one thing, and that's making sure that everybody is able to get adequate representation, regardless of how much money they have, regardless if they can afford a lawyer outside of what the state can provide,” Jeremy Woodson with the ACLU said.
The ACLU’s lawsuit clams Idaho’s public defense system violates the Sixth and 14th Amendments to the U.S. Constitution. The case was brought forth by four indigent defendants who claim they were effectively denied counsel in many ways.
“They are being serviced by a public defender who is already overworked without enough resources to provide them with adequate counsel; that is not a fair and just system,” Woodson said.
A two-and-a-half-year legal battle that’s now become a lot bigger as a class-action lawsuit.
“The impacts of that litigation will now affect, will go beyond just the four plaintiffs in the actual case, and will expand to tens of thousands of Idahoans statewide,” Woodson said.
In Idaho, the public defense system is run by the counties. However, the Idaho Public Defense Commission is tasked with overseeing the entire system.
“It is going to have a direct impact on our agency and how we do business and how the state does business with public defense,” Idaho Public Defense Commission Executive Director Kimberly Simmons said.
Simmons says there are 230 primary public defenders in the state, with each defender averaging about 300 cases a year. The commission is trying to reduce that workload.
“They're would be a maximum number of hours that attorneys should be working and they can't go beyond that or they can't handle the number of cases beyond that, it's not created yet. We're waiting on a workload study,” Simmons said.
The commission also has grants that counties can apply for to help fund their public defender’s office.
“The last two years the commission has given every county their maximum eligible amount,” Simmons said. “Funding is a huge issue when we talk about public defense issues, that again is country-wide, not just Idaho.”
Representation issues the ACLU is working to change with their lawsuit.
“We really believe this is a situation where we want to make sure that we're providing, adhering to everybody's Sixth Amendment rights to adequate legal representation,” Woodson said.
A class-action suit, that if won by the ACLU, would have a big impact on the state’s public defense system.
“What would come out of this would be a mandate, it would be injunctive relief and the state would then be mandated to do certain things, whatever it is,” Simmons said.
The Idaho Attorney General’s Office declined to comment, stating the litigation is ongoing.
The case is set for trial in September.