PHILADELPHIA (KYW Newsradio) — The American Civil Liberties Union has filed a lawsuit against Pennsylvania claiming the state is unconstitutionally underfunding public defenders and therefore not providing proper due process or representation.
The lawsuit alleges that by not properly funding the defenders, the state has essentially abandoned those who cannot afford their own attorneys, leaving them with limited options to move forward with their case — a violation of the Sixth Amendment.
The suit reads, in part: “Without the necessary financial support and oversight from the Commonwealth, nearly all of Pennsylvania’s 67 counties fail to provide consistently effective representation to the indigent through each phase of their criminal proceedings.
“Many — too many — counties have shown that they lack either the capacity or the political will to adequately fund or supervise these services.”
Although not county agencies, counties are the ones that fund public defender offices, and the ACLU says it had not been enough — not for salaries or even basic court proceedings, like experts or courtroom technology.
Gov. Josh Shapiro is named in the suit, as well as state Senate President Kim Ward and House Speaker Joanna McClinton.
A spokesperson for the governor said he agrees that there is a lack of funding for defenders, which “has created unacceptable inequities in our legal system.” The spokesperson also noted that Shapiro “secured” $10 million in funding for defenders since he took office.