From News Chant:
Public defenders across Illinois are struggling with excessive caseloads and a lack of independence that is negatively affecting their clients, according to a new study commissioned by the Illinois Supreme Court.
The study, which was released Tuesday, examined public defense in nine counties across the state. In all nine counties, which varied in population and demographics, public defenders lacked the necessary resources to provide the quality of representation required by the U.S. Constitution, the study found.
In Cook County, public defenders handling misdemeanor cases told the study’s authors that they had more than 2,000 cases per year. A public defender in Champaign County said they had 50 pretrial conferences in one day and 100 scheduled for the next day. And a DuPage County public defender said he was only able to get through 70% of the evidence provided by the prosecution in any given case. Continue reading >>>
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