Today’s Good News: New Orleans Gets Public Defender System, Of All Things, Fixed
You have no doubt heard the horror stories about prisoners trapped in NO jails before and after Katrina, partly due to the city’s public defender system, considered one of the worst in the country. Now, incredibly, the National Legal Aid and Defender Association says that NO scores a perfect 10 on the ABA criteria for indigent defense. NPR reported recently that the system has been transformed. What got it going is not entirely clear, though I know that in 2006 they considered releasing all the prisoners (80% were poor and using public defenders) because they just couldn’t process them. NO was the only city that funded its public defenders out of traffic ticket revenue. Obviously after the flood traffic tickets were the last thing on anyone’s mind, and the lack of revenue, combined with missing evidence and so forth, forced a real crisis.
So the state established a separate funding stream, though it still uses what traffic ticket money there may be. They also started assigning defense attorneys to clients, rather than courtrooms, with the goal of having the same lawyer represent a defendant throughout their trial process. (What a concept.)  Ordinary Americans also stepped up to help, with attorneys from 4 of America’s largest law firms working pro bono with New Orleans Legal Assistance this summer. So there is a silver lining to the Katrina tragedy.
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