Florida's public defenders

How cuts may be illegal THE Miami-Dade County Public Defenders Office has had enough. Overworked and underfunded in its efforts to provide lawyers for the poor, it tried last June to decline all new non-capital cases. In September a judge ruled that it could turn away so-called third-degree felony cases, such as people pulled in for possession of soft drugs. On March 30th three appellate judges heard arguments as to whether the September ruling was valid. Public defenders in Floridas 20 judicial circuits have a crushing workload: in some cases, more than double the 200 cases a year that their association recommends. And ever since the state legislature cut their funds in the latest budget squeeze, they have been struggling with less money and lower pay. But to withdraw from cases, or to refuse to take them, may be illegal under both Article I, section 9 of the Florida constitution (due process) and the federal constitution, which guarantees both due process under the 14th amendment and the right to counsel.