Read on Twitter
. @heathercessnapd is talking to #ksleg about the BIDS (public defender) budget. 81% of employees became public defender& #39;s b/c they believe in the work, but workload, poor pay, and burnout have led to 15% turnover in 2020. (From who& #39;s left after 25% turnover in year before.) /1
Caseload problems are "a professional and ethical issue". Even under outdated standards, PD& #39;s should not be doing more than 150 cases per year. Even with 20% slowdown due to Covid, average for BIDS PD& #39;s was 250/year, with the Wichita office as high as 278/year. /2
When a PD office has too many cases they have to shut down to new cases, and assigned counsel must be used. But it& #39;s more expensive to use assigned counsel. And because of low ($80/hour) rate, few want to do it and it& #39;s hard to find qualified attys for higher level cases. /3
Impact of Covid-19 has only made caseload/staffing issues worse. "We did not have the laptops and webcams (etc.) that we needed." And when we got them "we couldn& #39;t distribute them because of lack of IT staff." /4
This has contributed to problems for prosecutors and courts, too, because no one else can function if PD system can& #39;t. 85% of criminal cases need a public defender/assigned counsel, so if PD& #39;s aren& #39;t working nothing else can either. /5
Legislator: Is this all a problem under the 6th Amendment? Cessna: Yes. /6
Cessna wants to shift to a wholistic defense model, addressing the clients as a whole, instead of just processing their cases. In one study, 1 million days of incarceration were saved w/ wholistic defense, while still protecting public safety. /7
Cessna concludes by talking about the #deathpenalty budget, which is 3.5 million/year. Cases are at various stages, but even "historic" cases are not near the final stage of appeal. One legislator could be heard editorializing, "It& #39;s cheaper to lock them up." /end
