An analysis of Lee Enterprises data based on a milestone study of public defender workloads released today found U.S. public defenders regularly work three times as many cases as they can effectively handle, according to the Wisconsin State Journal. In some cases, public defenders work upwards of 10 times too many cases.
The study’s newly-developed workload standards are the first national, data-driven metrics that show that the overload of work faced by public defenders compromises their competency for their clients. The study finds this group “dangerously overworked” and seeks to reduce caseloads.
Lee Enterprises’ Public Service Journalism team received caseload data from all 50 states to conduct the first-ever national analysis of public defender workloads using the new National Public Defense Workload Standards; the study found the problem of overworked public defenders threatens the constitutional right to effective counsel.
According to the data, over 9,000 public defenders in 33 states have average caseloads triple the maximum annual cases outlined by the standards. In another five states and one county, the 50 public defenders with the highest workloads had four times the maximum cases each on average. The 11 states remaining did not have data that could be compared to the standards.
