As public defenders, we fight every day to protect the constitutional rights of people who are caught up in our criminal, juvenile and child welfare courts. Our clients are poor – we are appointed counsel when someone cannot afford to hire their own lawyer. But in Illinois, systemic barriers continue to undermine our ability to provide effective representation. National evaluations and state reports have exposed that the state’s public defense structure is outdated, underfunded and lacks necessary oversight and accountability.
Illinois was an early leader in public defense. The legislature established public defender’s offices and mandated court-appointed counsel in 1949, 14 years before Gideon v. Wainwright, the Supreme Court case that created the modern right to counsel in the U.S. But our laws around public defense have not significantly changed in the intervening 75 years. Today, the longstanding problem of over-incarceration is compounded by the huge increase in digitally recorded audio and video evidence that has completely changed both the courts and our work as defense attorneys.
The Illinois Public Defender Association represents the more than 800 indigent defenders, full- and part-time, at the trial and appellate levels across Illinois – from Waukegan to Quincy to Shawneetown. IPDA’s leadership understands this moment as an opportunity for the state to once again serve as a national leader in indigent defense.
This is why the IPDA has joined more than 75 state and local advocacy organizations to call on the Illinois General Assembly to pass the Funded Advocacy & Independent Representation (FAIR) Act (HB3363) this spring. The FAIR Act will create a statewide public defender agency and commission as an essential first step toward adequate funding and effective oversight of the high-quality indigent defense services to which every Illinois resident is entitled.
While public defenders work in all Illinois counties, our state is still one of only five states without a unified agency overseeing public defense. This has contributed to vast disparities in the resources available to defenders and their clients across the state. While many Illinois counties staff physical offices with full-time defenders, in many other counties the service is provided by part-time or contract attorneys. Regardless of the staffing model, public defenders across the state carry often overwhelming caseloads. A recent survey by Northwestern University Law School shows that none of Illinois’ 102 counties meet nationally recognized staffing requirements. There are simply too few attorneys and too few non-attorney staff. As a result, already busy defenders are left investigating their own cases and doing tasks normally done by an investigator, caseworker or an administrator. This prevents lawyers from focusing on lawyering.
The consequences of this neglected system fall heavily on the poor and disenfranchised members of our communities. Without proper funding and oversight, indigent people, who make up the majority of those prosecuted in Illinois, are at risk of being denied the vigorous defense that every accused person deserves. A quality system of public defense ensures that every individual, regardless of their financial situation, receives competent, dedicated and zealous legal representation. It ensures that well-supported attorneys with manageable caseloads have the staff and resources necessary to investigate their cases thoroughly and advocate effectively and without unnecessary delay for their clients.
The FAIR Act offers a comprehensive solution to this long-standing crisis. It will create a State Public Defender’s Office to assess staffing and resource needs and distribute increased state funds fairly. It will also establish a State Public Defender Commission, which will oversee indigent defense across the state and provide independence from improper political or judicial influence. The Illinois Public Defender Association supports the positive changes represented by the FAIR Act, giving voice to the Chief Defenders and Assistant Defenders across Illinois who may not otherwise feel empowered to speak on behalf of themselves and the clients they represent.
The reforms in the FAIR Act will improve fairness for accused people and strengthen the integrity of Illinois’ criminal, juvenile and family welfare systems. The studies have been done, and the reports have been written. Now it is time for Illinois legislators to act and bring our public defense system into the 21st century. Access to justice cannot depend on wealth or geography.
• Keith Grant is president of the Illinois Public Defender Association. Jeff York is a board member of the Illinois Public Defender Association and has served as the chief public defender of DuPage County for the past 15 years.