‘Headed for disaster’: ACLU asks Idaho Supreme Court to order reform…

The Idaho State Public Defender’s Office could not immediately be reached for comment Thursday. Agency officials have defended the transition as a complicated reform that officials are still working to improve. Officials acknowledged staff turnover but said many vacant positions had been filled and most public defenders actually saw a pay increase under the new system.

Mass resignations in Idaho leave public defense attorneys with ‘impossible caseloads,’ ACLU alleges

The ACLU of Idaho’s lawsuit claims that mass resignations during the change to the Idaho State Public Defender’s Office have left public defense attorneys with “impossible caseloads” and “put others in incredibly difficult situations.” in which they have to appear without knowing what they are expected to defend. the client they ended up representing.”

About a quarter of the attorneys in Ada County’s institutional office have resigned since mid-August, at least some due to pay cuts under the new system, according to the lawsuit. Kootenai County’s public defender’s office only has 11 of the 26 public defenders it needs, the lawsuit says, while Canyon County is down to 23 public defenders from the 32 it had before the transition.

The public defender for the First Judicial District of Idaho handles all Shoshone County public defender cases. That workload, estimated at 275-300 active cases, would typically be a “full-time docket for two attorneys,” the lawsuit says.

One day in Kootenai County, the lawsuit claims, no defendant in 17 misdemeanor trials had a lawyer. One day in Ada County, an attorney from the State Public Defender’s Office appeared on behalf of four defendants, but “barely had time to speak to any of them.”

The lawsuit includes written testimony from attorneys and defendants.

In one, a Kootenai County defendant says he appeared in court three times without his attorney in October and November, even though he called the State Public Defender’s Office “every other day after his arraignment.” , the lawsuit states. In another, a defendant said they made the eight-hour trip from Boise to Bonner County three times “over a couple of months…only to have the proceedings continue repeatedly because the attorney (from the State Public Defender’s Office) he withdrew from his case,” the lawsuit says. says.

“Overstretched advocates, with inadequate access to client files, also had difficulty presenting adequate bail arguments on behalf of their clients,” the lawsuit says. “Clients without counsel or unprepared advocates now find themselves in the position of having to waive their right to a speedy trial or pursue their defense on their own.”

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