You have the right to a lawyer, but public defenders note a lack of resources, respect
Public defenders operate under heavy pressure and budget constraints 60 years after the Supreme Court ruled low-income criminal defendants should be provided lawyers even if they can't pay for them.
Sixty years ago today the Supreme Court ruled that people accused of crimes but without means to pay for a lawyer would be provided with one at public expense.
The promise of that landmark ruling in Gideon v. Wainwright has been frustrated by heavy caseloads for public defenders and tight budgets that prioritize police, prosecutors and prisons over the right to counsel.
"Understaffed, crushing caseloads, underpaid and undervalued, and this
