In 1966, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled in Miranda vs. Arizona that criminal defendants were entitled to say nothing so as to not incriminate themselves, and they were also entitled to an attorney.

Not too long after, television viewers became familiar with what came to be called the Miranda warning thanks to its recitation on popular series like “Dragnet” and “Adam-12.” Along with a right to silence and a right to attorney, it became widely understood by Americans in all walks of life that if a defendant could not afford an attorney “one will be provided for you.”

A question that has long lingered over that valuable right, though, is whether criminal defendants who are being represented by court-appointed attorneys are getting the best possible defense. Across the country, many public defenders are overworked and underpaid, working with caseloads that don’t allow them to spend much time on each case. In Pennsylvania, counties have been left to fund and oversee public defender offices, and it has resulted in many of them being starved of resources and manpower.

That’s the argument the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) of Pennsylvania puts forward in a lawsuit it recently filed in Commonwealth Court. It asserts that the current system leaves defendants without effective counsel and, according to an ACLU news release, “creates an inconsistent patchwork of counsel depending on the county in which a person is charged with a crime.”

Witold Walczak, the ACLU’s Pennsylvania legal director, explained, “Pennsylvania’s grossly underfunded system leads to overwhelming caseloads that make effective representation practically impossible even for the most dedicated lawyer.”

The suit, which names Gov. Josh Shapiro and members of the General Assembly as defendants, was filed just as Pennsylvania counties are being awarded state money to support indigent defense. Washington County, for instance, is going to use the $94,000 it is receiving to hire an additional full-time attorney, while Fayette County is using the money it requested — close to $98,000 — to make upgrades to its software and equipment. All told, Harrisburg is sending $7.5 million out to the commonwealth’s 67 counties to support their indigent defense offices, the first time it has ever done so. The Shapiro administration is requesting the amount be boosted to $10 million in the 2024-25 budget, and Lt. Gov. Austin Davis has said that getting the funds out to counties is “no small feat.”

But critics say even the $7.5 million in state funds is not sufficient. They point to the fact that states, on average, spend about $19.67 on a cost-per-capita basis for indigent defense, while Pennsylvania only spends $10.25, even when the new state funding is included. When you look across the 50 states, only Mississippi, Hawaii, Oklahoma, Missouri and Texas spend less on indigent defense than Pennsylvania does.

When discussing the state money being put toward indigent defense, Shapiro said, “We need to do more to build equity in our criminal justice system, and a critical piece of that is sustained, dedicated funding for public defenders.” In the years ahead, Shapiro and his fellow lawmakers need to assure that funding actually meets the size of the need.

Uniontown Herald Standard