Showdown in the Show Me State: Can Overburdened Missouri Public Defenders Refuse New Cases?
By: Steve Grumm
We may soon find out. Tomorrow the Missouri Supreme Court will hear arguments in a long-simmering case about whether the Missouri Public Defender Commission is empowered to close offices to new cases on account of high caseloads. While this decision will of course impact only Missouri’s indigent defense system, the problem of under-funded, overwhelmed defenders offices exists in many jurisdictions.
From the Springfield News-Leader:
Public defenders say they were operating under the rules set up after a previous Supreme Court decision.
But multiple interpretations have surfaced as to what the previous Supreme Court ruling, called the Pratte decision, actually means.
The Missouri Public Defender Commission’s opinion is that the Pratte decision reaffirmed its authority to set rules to combat high caseloads. It also said public defenders couldn’t reject cases based on category, such as turning down all probation violation cases.
In the Pratte opinion, one of the suggestions justices made was to consider closing the offices to new cases when caseload limits were reached, as other states have done.
But the sides disagree about whether that text gave the authority to close offices or was merely a discussion of options.
The new case before the Supreme Court could clarify how the court expects public defenders to deal with high caseloads.
