Public Defender’s Office needs funds

From WWLTV.com:

“Prosecuting criminals is an important part of keeping order in the city,” said Ken Foster, anti-crime advocate and co-founder of Silence Is Violence.

But Foster acknowledges that doesn’t tell the whole story.

“The other side of the coin is the Public Defenders Office.”

On the corner of Tulane and Broad, 32 criminal court public defenders work to help the city’s indigent and accused, that’s compared to the 90 district attorneys paid to argue against them.

“There’s a recognition in this city that we want a top flight fully functioning, effective, efficient, and fair criminal justice system, but we’re not going to get that if we only have a public defenders office that’s one third the size of the prosecutor,” said Chris Flood, New Orleans interim chief public defender.

Flood says the disparity between his office’s resources and those provided to the district attorney is bound to get wider, which he warns would dramatically impact the criminal justice system.

“We’re not going to be in a position where we can take anymore cases, and if we can’t take anymore cases, no cases will move forward,” said Flood.

According to Flood, the State of Louisiana doles out about $2,360,000 in funding to the Office of the Orleans Public Defenders, court fees provide approximately $1,170,000 and a federal grant offers $1,720,000. Flood says the federal dollars, however, run out next year and are not renewable.

With the major financial hole looming, Flood fears he could soon have to lay off a third of his lawyers. On Thursday, he pled his case to the New Orleans City Council, which Flood says, historically, has never given the Office of Orleans Public Defenders a dime.

Flood urged the council to make good on his office’s appeal for a 5 million dollar chunk of the 2009 city budget, and his plea found traction.

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