Shapiro’s indigent defense funding proposal another step in the right direction
Pennsylvania, the longtime national outlier for its appalling patchwork system for indigent defense, is finally making progress to beef up its support for defendants who can’t afford representation — with efforts coming from Allegheny County as well as the state.
In a country where more than 80% of state criminal defendants use the indigent defense system, proper funding and support for that system is essential.
Despite the messy 2023-24 budget process, December’s final code bill included a $7.5 million appropriation to assist public defenders, a measure which includes the creation of an oversight committee that met for the first time earlier this month. The push comes from Gov. Josh Shapiro, who has proposed another $10 million infusion in the next budget cycle.
The right to proper legal representation is enshrined by the Constitution’s Sixth Amendment, as interpreted in the landmark 1963 Gideon v. Wainwright Supreme Court case, but a right implies a duty to fulfill that right, and Pennsylvania has long fallen short. The commonwealth was, until last year, the only state in the nation where indigent defense had never received steady state funding or oversight.
In fact, in order to achieve consistent, equitable representation — so this constitutional right doesn’t depend on individual county budgets and leadership — most states fund the vast majority of indigent defense programs, leaving very little to local governments’ discretion.
In Pennsylvania, however, the task has instead been shouldered by each county, creating a patchwork system where public defenders often encounter low pay, overwhelming caseloads and no state guidance for best practices. Studies from over a decade ago revealed the system’s problems, but concrete changes are only now in motion, with more progress on the horizon.
The budget code bill, besides facilitating a small cash infusion, also mandated the creation of the 27-member Indigent Defense Advisory Committee. The committee is tasked with dispersing the $7.5 million, as well as creating statewide indigent defense standards and establishing training curricula for legal defense professionals.
The state money appears alongside an ongoing Allegheny County audit of the county’s indigent defense system, launched by County Controller Corey O’Connor late last year. The state board is required to work in tandem with local agencies, and its efforts will be bolstered by the findings of the audit.
Advocates agree that these measures are just the first step in addressing a much larger issue. After all, last year’s $7.5 million allocation, as well as the next year’s proposed $10 million, are less than 10% of the $125.5 million counties shell out each year providing free legal representation.
But it’s a start, and combined with the oversight committee and the Allegheny County audit, there’s plenty of reason to believe that an overdue overhaul is on its way. Increased transparency, better representation for vulnerable people and less incarceration — saving counties and the state money in the long run — will be the result.