The American Civil Liberties Union of Pennsylvania filed a lawsuit against the Commonwealth, alleging that the state's underfunding of public defenders violates both federal and state constitutional law, Courthouse News reports. The class action, filed Thursday, says the state’s failure to sufficiently fund indigent defense has severely limited public defenders’ ability to properly represent their clients, stretching them too thin across overwhelming caseloads and limiting Pennsylvanians’ ability to seek a fair criminal trial. Along with the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, the lawsuit also included as defendants Governor Josh Shapiro, Senate President Pro Tempore Kim Ward and House Speaker Joanna McClinton.
Until March of this year, Pennsylvania was one of only two U.S. states to provide zero funding for indigent defense, leaving counties to foot the entire bill of public defenders in the Keystone State. Last year, Shapiro did introduce and pass a state budget that includes $7.5 million for indigent defense. However, a state committee later announced that only about $6.75 million would directly support counties’ indigent defense services. In its lawsuit, the ACLU argues that $6.7 million “is not nearly enough” to meet the needs of the state. For Pennsylvania’s per capita state spending on indigent defense to fall in line with the national average state officials would have to appropriate approximately $100 million in additional funding.
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