The state’s public defenders say proposed budget cuts will push lawyer caseloads too high and make it difficult for them to meet their constitutional and ethical obligations to Connecticut’s poorest citizens, The Associated Press reports.
Some public defenders’ caseloads are already at or above state guidelines set in 1999 in response to a lawsuit that said the public defender system was so overwhelmed that it could no longer fulfill clients’ constitutional rights to an adequate legal defense, said Deputy Chief Public Defender Brian Carlow. The public defenders’ office cut 42 temporary and independent contractor jobs last week and is planning to eliminate 33 permanent jobs.
“If the caseloads are too big, our people cannot spend the time they need to spend on a case and with their clients,” Carlow said. “Our biggest initial concern is cases not moving as quickly as they can when people are locked up.”
The Office of Chief Public Defender, which handles more than 90,000 cases a year, has about 400 full-time workers, half of whom are lawyers.
After state employee unions rejected a $1.6 billion labor savings deal last month, the legislature told the public defenders’ office that it needed to cut its two-year, $128 million budget by about $9.6 million, or 7.5 percent. But it is now unclear whether those cuts will have to be made after all, because union leaders have launched a new effort to get a savings deal passed.
The public defenders’ office cut all 30 of its per diem independent contractor positions last week, including 16 lawyers, and laid off 12 temporary employees, including seven lawyers. All 42 of those workers helped keep caseload levels down, but needed to be cut regardless of any union savings deal, Carlow said.
To meet the savings mandated by the Legislature, the public defenders’ office is proposing laying off 24 full-time employees and eliminating another nine jobs through attrition or retirements. The agency has not decided yet how many of those positions will be lawyers or when the job cuts will be made.
