Public Defenders
In America, a public defender is a lawyer whose duty is to provide legal counsel and representation to indigent criminal defendants who possess no ability to pay for a private attorney for their criminal defense. Public defenders are employees of the government (at the federal, state, or local level), or they work for non-profit organizations that are funded by the government, as opposed to criminal attorneys who are in private practice.
Appointed counsel are required to be available to anyone accused in a criminal court, who is facing any likelihood of future imprisonment, by the 6th amendment guidelines that were established by the decision Gideon vs. Wainwright. Most jurisdictions choose to comply with their Gideon duty by establishing an office for the public defender, while a significant minority complies with Gideon by having a panel of appointed private counsel available to them.
It is the duty of the public defender to represent and provide legal counsel to all indigent individuals who have been charged with a misdemeanor or felony criminal offense which could be punishable by a term of imprisonment or whom a petition has been filed before a mental health board. The public defender shall provide legal representation to said indigent person through all critical stages of the court proceedings and through the sentencing stage, when necessary. The appointment of the public defender is done by the Court.
State public defender offices vary depending on the jurisdiction and are different than federal defender systems. In state offices, issues often arise in jurisdictions with public defenders over appropriate funding levels. When these offices are not adequately funded their case loads can rise to a level that the office is unable to handle from a financial standpoint. These issues can also keep salaries too low to attract any real interest in the job of being a public defender or keep talented and experience lawyers on the payroll. Issues of wrongful conviction and execution have been blamed on inadequate legal representation due to lack of necessary funds. To avoid these issues the ABA has enacted standards regarding appropriate case loads for public defenders. Research indicates that indigent individuals receive the best representation by public defenders in jurisdictions that are well funded and do not burden their appointed defense lawyers with too heavy a case load and too small a paycheck.
Federal public defender offices follow one of two models. They are either federal agencies operating under the Judicial Branch of the United States Government, or corporations who receive federal grant money. Public defender agencies of many different kinds are supported by public funding, but do not take direction from the government as to the acceptance of cases, the handling of their cases, or the hiring of staff attorneys.
Federal public defender offices are well funded, professional offices that are dedicated to criminal defense work. By law, the salaries of the attorneys working in these offices must be set to match those of the attorneys working in the U.S. District Attorney’s offices. The combination of a decent salary, benefits, and support staff tends to attract and, more importantly, retain highly qualified lawyers. A surprising percentage of Assistant Federal Public Defenders attended Ivy League, clerked for a federal judge, or both. Many of the lawyers in the Federal Public Defender’s office also had successful careers as prosecutors and defenders in their local jurisdictions prior to moving into their within the federal system.