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Justice Failing in Calcasieu Parish
Lawsuit Seeks Systemic Reform and Relief for Defendants Deprived of Constitutional Rights
Lake Charles, La. – A class action lawsuit filed in September, 2004 charges that deficiencies in the Calcasieu Parish public defense system are so extreme that indigent defendants are effectively being denied their right to counsel as guaranteed by the U.S. and Louisiana Constitutions.
“The state of Louisiana has continually failed to meet its constitutional obligation to adequately fund the state’s public defense system. We cannot begin to meet the legal needs of the more than 2,500 felony and 3,500 misdemeanor clients assigned to the office each year,” said Ron Ware, executive director of the Calcasieu Parish Public Defender’s Office.
“Louisiana stands alone as the only state in the nation that attempts to primarily fund this core constitutional requirement through whatever money happens to be collected on traffic tickets. These meager resources are not enough to protect the public’s right to equal access to justice,” Ware continued.
The lawsuit alleges that due to substantial under-funding, public defender clients do not have their cases properly investigated, have infrequent communication with their attorneys, and experience extraordinary delays in the processing of their cases. The result is that indigent defendants, innocent until proven guilty, spend months and even years in jail before they are ever given their day in court, with no meaningful legal representation to ensure their rights are upheld.
“The harm suffered by the nine named plaintiffs in the lawsuit is indicative of a statewide epidemic,” stated Barry Scheck, president of the National Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers. “Recent reports have documented similar inadequacies in Avoyelles and Caddo Parishes. The failure of the state to provide adequate funding for indigent defense affects not just people accused of a crime, but every resident in every community.”
Scheck continued, “The recent exoneration of Ryan Matthews again shows that when public defenders are not given the resources necessary to keep the scales of justice balanced, innocent people are convicted and the real criminals remain at large in the community – where they pose a very real threat to our safety.”
The U.S. Supreme Court ruled 41 years ago in Gideon v. Wainwright that the Constitution requires the government to provide an attorney to criminal defendants who cannot afford one. A later ruling by the high court made it clear that just appointing an attorney is not enough – indigent defendants must receive “effective assistance of counsel.”
The lawsuit cites the following inadequacies in Calcasieu Parish:
- Nine staff attorneys in the Public Defender’s Office each handle an average of 350 to 400 open felony cases per year – approximately twice the caseload standard established by the Louisiana Indigent Defense Assistance Board, and two and a half times the national standard set by the American Bar Association.
- Heavy caseloads lead to extraordinary delays in the processing of cases. Nationwide, 90 percent of all felony cases are resolved within one year of arrest. In Calcasieu Parish, only 20 percent of felony cases are resolved within a year. Defendants are held for months without knowing the charges against them, and some wait years in jail while their trial dates are postponed again and again.
- The Public Defender’s Office in Calcasieu Parish lacks the resources to hire expert witnesses or conduct thorough investigations prior to trial. Public defenders rarely visit their clients in jail, and in most cases defendants meet the attorneys assigned to their cases for the first time at arraignment, which occurs on average 10 months after arrest.
“The attorneys in my office want nothing more than to provide their clients with the highest quality legal representation possible. We are doing the best we can with the resources we have, but we cannot keep our heads above water given our extremely heavy caseloads and woefully inadequate funding,” said Ware.
Scheck added, “In Louisiana, it is shameful that the kind of justice you receive depends on the amount of money you have. The Public Defender’s Office in Calcasieu Parish is so overloaded and under-funded that it simply cannot provide adequate counsel to its clients. Neither the U.S Constitution nor the Louisiana Constitution allows for justice to be rationed to the poor for any reason – including insufficient funding or political expediency.”
The lawsuit is being handled by William H. Jeffress, Jr. and Frank Rambo of Baker Botts LLP, and Hamilton P. Fox III and John P. Anderson of Sutherland Asbill & Brennan LLP. |
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National Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers (NACDL)
1660 L St., NW, 12th Floor, Washington, DC 20036
(202) 872-8600 • Fax (202) 872-8690 •
assist@nacdl.org
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