US government shutdown worsens financial woes for court-appointed defense lawyers | ‘People can…

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‘People can only work for free for so long’: Oregon federal defense system near breaking point amid shutdown

More than 95 private lawyers in Oregon who have been appointed to represent indigent defendants in federal court have not been paid since early July and are owed “well more” than half a million dollars for work they’ve performed, according to Oregon’s federal public defender.

With the federal government shutdown continuing with no end in sight, Oregon Federal Public Defender Fidel Cassino Du-Cloux said in a recent letter to the state’s congressional delegation that the unpaid casework is an unprecedented “crisis” that’s “threatening the integrity of our federal justice system.”

When Federal Defender’s Office staff can’t absorb additional cases or have a conflict of interest, they rely on what’s known as panel attorneys to take on cases.

El Paso attorney says federal funding lapse has left public defenders unpaid for months

EL PASO, Texas (KVIA) — For more than four months, federal court-appointed defense attorneys in El Paso and across the country have been working without pay.

Cori Harbour, who has served as a Criminal Justice Act panel attorney for about 20 years, says she received her last payment on June 30.

Since then, she and thousands of other defense lawyers nationwide have gone unpaid as federal funding for court-appointed defense work ran dry earlier than expected.

“We started getting notices in March that there was a funding shortfall,” Harbour said. “It was an intentional underfunding by Congress for the particular budget that pays court-appointed attorneys and service providers. We were told the funds would run out in late July, but they actually ran out July 3.”

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