The funding roller coaster continued for Georgia’s public defenders on Tuesday as a key Senate committee slashed their budget to just a fraction of what they had sought to stay afloat.
The midyear budget that passed the Senate Appropriations Committee contained just $513,000 for public defenders to get them through the June 30 end of the fiscal year. Gov. Sonny Perdue had recommended $3.6 million.
I’m wondering if they’ll be able to stay afloat or will we be forced back into slavery, i.e. forcibly making new lawyers represent indigent defendants.
Pro se.
As a county commissioner I fear that the whole cost is going to be shifted back to the counties. State funding has saved us money on our M&O budget over the years where judges picked attorneys and we paid them directly. Our PD’s do a good job up here. Maybe we could pay them out of the “Go Fish” program since that program has sort of “dried up” if you’ll excuse the pun.
Oh cmon ramblingwreck! Why would we spend money on things actually mandated by the Constitution when we can spend it on things not even remotely required!
Sounds like a good situation for criminal defendants. Sure, that real estate lawyer who represented him may get him locked up, but even a pro se appeal will spring him!
I think this budget cut is incredibly reactionary and may lead to a successful challenge to the constitutionality of our State’s defense of capital criminals. At least death penalty opponents are hoping so: http://www.deathpenaltyinfo.org/article.php?did=2630&scid=64
I hope this will get corrected in the final budget.