<\/p>\n
The Oregon<\/a> supreme court has ruled that a large number of criminal cases across the state must be dismissed due to a severe shortage of public defenders, a major decision that attorneys say will impact more than 1,400 pending cases.<\/p>\n The problem has been years in the making and has become a significant constitutional crisis, as people charged with crimes are routinely unable to fight their cases as they wait weeks, months or sometimes years for the state to appoint them lawyers. The attorney shortage \u2013 due in part to the increasing difficulty of recruiting attorneys for the low-salary, high-caseload jobs \u2013 has meant that people have had cases hanging over them for extended periods of time, impacting their housing, employment and families, advocates say.<\/p>\n Oregon\u2019s highest court ruled on Thursday that dismissals are required if the state has failed to provide counsel within 60 days after arraignment for a misdemeanor and within 90 days for a felony. State data<\/a> on unrepresented defendants showed that as of this week, more than 1,400 active cases fall in that category, including hundreds of people who have been waiting more than a year for an attorney.<\/p>\n The ruling dictates that the cases be dismissed without prejudice, meaning prosecutors can re-file charges. The court said charges can be brought again \u201cwhen the state is able to provide the counsel to which a defendant is entitled\u201d. The ruling also said dismissal isn\u2019t required if during the 60- or 90-day period the defendant failed to appear in court for a required hearing.<\/p>\n The case originated with a man named Allen Rex Roberts, who was charged with unauthorized use of a vehicle and possession of a stolen car in August 2021. The charges were dismissed in October 2022 because of the state\u2019s failure to appoint him a lawyer, but in April 2024, prosecutors re-indicted Roberts on the same charges. For the next year, Roberts repeatedly returned to court for hearings where he was supposed to be appointed counsel, but each time no attorney was available. Eventually, his case was again dismissed due to a lack of attorneys.<\/p>\n The right to counsel is enshrined<\/a> in the Oregon and US constitutions, and the shortage of attorneys has led to mass violations of those fundamental rights and pushed the criminal legal system to the brink, advocates say. The vast majority of defendants in the state are indigent and cannot afford a private attorney.<\/p>\n \u201cMany folks who are eligible for dismissal after the court\u2019s opinion today have been facing the criminal justice system without assistance for months or years,\u201d said Jessica Snyder, a lawyer who co-wrote an amicus brief in the case on behalf of the federal public defenders in Oregon. \u201cThe harm is great. It has led to individuals losing their housing, losing contact with their children because of no-contact orders, [and] losing the opportunity to preserve evidence in their criminal case.\u201d<\/p>\n Some defendants would have been able to quickly resolve their cases if they simply could afford a private attorney, Snyder noted.<\/p>\n \u201cThe toll is also psychological. A lot of clients talked about the despair they felt coming back to court over and over again without someone to help them, how confused they felt, how the court wouldn\u2019t listen to their concerns or prosecutors wouldn\u2019t help them navigate the system,\u201d said Snyder.<\/p>\n A previous court ruling<\/a> dictated that the state must release defendants from jail within seven days of appearing in court if they aren\u2019t appointed an attorney. That means the more than 1,400 cases impacted by Thursday\u2019s ruling mostly involve defendants who are already out of custody.<\/p>\n The attorney shortage is a systemic and statewide problem in Oregon, and the causes are complex<\/a>, with criminal defense lawyers noting the state has long underfunded public defense, leaving few public defenders overwhelmed with massive caseloads. A backlog of cases during the pandemic and increasing time required to review materials like body-camera footage and digital evidence has further strained the system, advocates say.<\/p>\n Oregon\u2019s crisis is particularly acute, but attorney shortages have created problems<\/a> across the country, including in Washington state<\/a>, Maine<\/a>, Illinois<\/a>, Utah<\/a> and New Hampshire<\/a>.<\/p>\n Nadia Dahab, a Portland-based attorney who argued the Roberts case, said she hoped the ruling would force the state to pursue a \u201csolution that recognizes the importance of access to counsel for people charged with a crime and allocates the resources necessary to make sure the public defense system adequately protects them\u201d.<\/p>\n \u201cRoberts,\u201d she added, \u201cis one of thousands, and the harms he suffered through the arrest warrant when the state recharged him and through the impact of having to take off work to go to court every month \u2013 those are very exemplary of what lots of others are facing.\u201d<\/p>\n Oregon\u2019s department of justice had argued against blanket dismissals in the Roberts case.<\/p>\n Dan Rayfield, the state attorney general, said in a statement on Thursday that the state\u2019s legislature had stepped up to increase investments, and, he said, \u201cOregonians deserve solutions\u201d. He continued: \u2018Too many are being left without legal representation \u2013 some sitting in jail, others stuck in limbo outside of custody, unable to move their cases forward. That is not acceptable for public safety.\u201d<\/p>\n Rayfield said the state respects the supreme court\u2019s decision to \u201cset clear limits on how long someone can go without counsel\u201d and he expected the Oregon Public Defense Commission (OPDC), the agency that oversees the public defense system, to meet the standards established by the court and \u201ctake responsibility for ensuring people are represented\u201d.<\/p>\n The OPDC said in a statement it was assessing the decision and that the commission had made progress in reducing the number of unrepresented individuals and would \u201ccontinue to address the crisis with urgency and transparency\u201d. The statement noted that there were 2,494 people without an attorney at the end of January, down 37% from the year prior.<\/p>\n \u201cWe will collaborate with our partners in the criminal justice community to respond to this ruling and build on this progress while protecting defendants\u2019 rights and public safety,\u201d the statement said.<\/p>\n