SAN FRANCISCO, CA- Increasing the funding for public defenders offices across the country would provide needed resources to help keep communities safe in other ways besides incarcerating those thought to be a danger to the general public, according to an opinion piece published by Newsweek.
According to the Brennan Center For Justice Op-Ed, the “lock ‘em up and throwing away the key” approach used in the U.S. to keep crime rates low isn’t effective in keeping people safe – if the approach worked, with the money the U.S. spends it, the nation would be the safest society in the world
Public defenders around the country are faced daily with the harm caused by the policies that promote mass incarceration, said the Op-Ed, noting individual defenders often represent hundreds of people at one given time.
Yet public defenders are left out of conversations regarding public safety, while they are also the same people tasked with representing people who are disproportionately affected by poverty and everyday violence.
The Brennan Op-Ed states, “In our San Francisco office, 75 percent of our clients are people of color, 75 percent have mental illness or substance use disorder or both, and 100 percent are low-income, with many suffering from homelessness.
“In Philadelphia, it’s a similar picture: 82 percent of our clients are people of color, 64 percent have mental illness or substance use disorder or both, and all are low-income, with many suffering from homelessness”.
According to the Newsweek piece, public defenders represent more than 80 percent of people charged with crimes, encompassing all sorts of cases.
The story explains when charged with a crime the accused is appointed a public defender if they can’t afford one, as guaranteed by the U.S. Constitution, and PDs often look for constitutional violations of their rights as well as injustices such as prosecutorial mischarging and overcharging.
The Brennan Op-Ed notes the impacts of incarceration as not just affecting clients but also hurting families and communities as a whole, creating generational harm.
According to Partners For Justice, the negative impacts of incarceration trickle down to the children and families of those who are incarcerated, making them more susceptible to poor mental health and creating more devastating effects.
The article adds, “That’s why public defenders, while working for people’s best legal outcome, are also trying to get our clients support to improve their lives, whether that’s through expungement clinics that can lead to housing or job opportunities, connecting people with social services or helping them find educational opportunities that can provide a path to succeed and thrive.”
The disparity in funding as well as staffing especially is stark when compared to the district attorney offices, said the Brennan Center For Justice Op-Ed.
“The Defender Association of Philadelphia has around 240 attorneys, whose starting salary is around $6,000 per year less than our counterparts at the district attorney’s office, which has around 600 attorneys. This year marks the first time public defense will have a line item in Pennsylvania’s state budget. And while it’s great that the state is finally providing that funding, it’s merely a first step,” the Newsweek article states.
According to a report done by the Vera Institute of Justice, passing tougher laws, or incarcerating more people doesn’t make communities safer…instead, the nation should turn to public defenders to work towards different modes of rehabilitation that could be done through increased funding to public defense offices.
The article concludes, “Public defenders tend to be mission-driven people who go the extra mile because, for us, this work is a calling. Think of the impact we might have—not just on the people we represent, but on the communities we serve—if our funding levels were identical to prosecutors, or even close to it.”
The Newsweek Op-Ed by Brennan Center For Justice argues there needs to be more funding to public defenders, and that could achieve real change for communities all across the country, securing a healthy and strong future for society as a whole.
