As talks continue among Philadelphia city officials, the First Judicial District and the city’s indigent defense bar over raising the conflict counsel rates, many court-appointed attorneys in Philadelphia have taken heart from the Pennsylvania Supreme Court’s recent decision to allow poor criminal defendants to sue their counties over the funding levels of public defender offices.
Late last month, the Supreme Court ruled in Kuren v. Luzerne County that public defender offices that are chronically underfunded and understaffed raised questions about whether the counties providing the funding are complying with the U.S. Supreme Court’s requirement to provide attorneys for criminal defendants who cannot afford them. Justice David N. Wecht wrote the majority opinion.
