Massachusetts Public Defenders Resume Cases After Pay Increase,But Sixth Amendment Concerns Remain
BOSTON – After weeks of a work stoppage that exacerbated an already strained public defense system,many bar advocates in Massachusetts have begun accepting new cases following a recently approved pay increase. The raise – a $20 increase spread over two years – and a pledge to hire 320 new public defenders prompted some attorneys to return to court, though the Massachusetts association of Criminal Defense Lawyers deems the increase insufficient to address a “constitutional crisis.”
The situation in Massachusetts highlights a growing national problem: the right to counsel, guaranteed by the Sixth Amendment, is increasingly under threat due to chronic underfunding and systemic issues within public defense systems.
Nationally, states are grappling with significant backlogs and shortages of public defenders.Oregon, for example, currently has roughly 4,000 defendants awaiting legal portrayal statewide, leading to the dismissal of nearly 300 cases in Multnomah County alone due to a lack of available public defenders. Former District Attorney Mike Schmidt called the shortage “an urgent threat to public safety.” Oregon is attempting to address the issue by moving toward a hybrid model, aiming to have additional public defenders handle at least 30% of indigent cases by 2035.
Massachusetts, despite having a large number of law schools and lawyers, has historically offered low pay to bar advocates, ironically contributing to recruitment and retention challenges.”Massachusetts is getting an astonishing bargain out of bar advocates,” says Robert kilmartin, a retired federal attorney now working as a bar advocate.”But it’s at the expense of the Sixth Amendment.” He warns,”If we can’t attract good lawyers,the system collapses,and that collapse isn’t just about us – it’s about the thousands of people left unrepresented in court.”
By the end of August, Massachusetts had hired 22 new staff attorneys. Aditi Goel of the Sixth Amendment Center, a nonprofit tracking public defense nationally, notes that Massachusetts acted faster than many states, possessing “a more sophisticated structure” that allowed it to recognize and respond to the crisis.
Though, the dispute underscores the broader implications of a failing public defense system. Aliza Hochman Bloom,assistant professor of law at Northeastern University,emphasizes that a lack of access to counsel “further erodes” trust in the justice system,notably for those already within it. “Most individuals within our carceral system already have a waning sense of the integrity of the system itself,” she says.
