PHILADELPHIA (KYW Newsradio) — Gov. Josh Shapiro wants more state money to pay for public defenders.
About a week ago, Shapiro proposed that $10 million of the 2024-2025 state budget be used to aid in the legal defense of those who cannot afford an attorney — an increase of $2.5 million from the year prior.
Two years ago, the fund didn’t exist.
“Every single Pennsylvanian who enters into our criminal justice system has a constitutional right to adequate legal counsel,” Shapiro said, “and we have now taken steps and will take more steps to ensure that right is extended to all Pennsylvanians.”
On Monday, the Pennsylvania Commission on Crime and Delinquency’s (PCCD) Indigent Defense Advisory Committee held an inaugural meeting to start developing statewide standards and a funding system for indigent defense services.
Austin Davis, lieutenant governor and PCCD chair, said the meeting highlighted gaps in data collection and the importance of this funding for the underserved population of indigent defendants. He says they are taking bold steps to ensure Pennsylvanians are given the tools to move their lives forward in a positive direction.
As the former state attorney general, Shapiro says he sees the debate over funding for public defense from a unique perspective.
“I saw firsthand how a functional, professional, adversarial relationship in court can bring us closer to real justice,” Shapiro said.
“We need to do more to build equity in our criminal justice system, but it’s critically important that we start here – with sustained, dedicated funding for public defenders. The time to invest is right now.”
Sara Jacobson, executive director of the Public Defenders Association of Pennsylvania, says there have been 128 wrongful convictions in the state of Pennsylvania, costing the state an estimated $780 million — that's according to a study by Vanderbilt University Law School spanning from 1989 through 2021.
Jacobson says those numbers are symptomatic of an underfunded system for defending poor Pennsylvanians accused of a crime.
“Some counties spend on indigent defense as much as $30 per person per capita and others as little as $3.20.”
The newly formed Indigent Defense Advisory Committee is now tasked with figuring out exactly how much money is needed.