When charged with a crime in the United States, the Sixth Amendment guarantees that defendants who cannot afford an attorney will get a free public defender. But in Luzerne County Pennsylvania, the office of public defender is so understaffed that it has been turning away hundreds of indigent people who were seeking representation for lower-level offenses.
The office of public defender has been unable to fill eight of its 28 budgeted attorney positions because the starting salary for new attorneys is not competitive in the Luzerne County legal market, Chief Public Defender Steven Greenwald said in a November budget presentation to county council. Some 500 people have had their applications for representation turned away, he said.
