Don’t blame a lack of interest among law school graduates for the dramatic understaffing of attorneys in the Rhode Island Public Defender’s office.
According to a Blum Shapiro & Co. report released last month, as of July, 49 public defenders work in the office and at least 87 additional full-time equivalent attorneys are needed to address a caseload calculated between October 2015 and April 2016.
Mary S. McElroy, the state’s public defender, wasn’t surprised by the findings, but says fixing the problem, created by years of underfunding, will take time.
“It’s not a problem we’ve gotten into quickly,” she said. “It’s got to be a five- or 10-year plan [to fix]. I wouldn’t know where to put 80 people.”
The office had a $10.9 million budget in fiscal 2015 that’s grown to $12.1 million this fiscal year. McElroy has been in her job for five years but couldn’t say how long the office has been requesting additional hires. She did say the office has requested two new FTE positions in the fiscal 2019 budget.
Robert B. Mann, owner and attorney at the Robert B. Mann Law Office in Providence, has a relative who works in the office and is aware of the understaffing – and the interest among lawyers in working there.
“There are a lot of lawyers that would like to work over there,” he said. “There’s no question they could fill positions if they had the funding.”
Laurie Barron, Roger Williams University’s director of the Feinstein Center for Pro Bono & Experiential Education and former New York City public defender, agrees there’s healthy interest among the school’s law students.
“We field more demand for the criminal-defense clinic every year than we can meet,” she said.
Andrew Horwitz, RWU assistant dean for experiential education and former president of the Rhode Island Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers, estimated 10 out of the 115- to 125-person class actively pursue public defense while another 10 to 15 are at least interested in the idea.
Public-defense interest is “incredibly competitive” and students must document their intent from the first semester, said Barron.
A fully staffed public defender’s office is paramount to the health of the society, according to Barron.
“The right to a lawyer means nothing if the lawyer has 500 cases,” she said. “It’s all about resources and you can’t represent someone if your caseload is too high.”
To prospective public defenders, Barron suggested continuously applying and being open to working anywhere in the United States.
“You’ll eventually get in there if you’re very dogged,” she said.
What McElroy wants to see from the state is a “smarter allocation of criminal justice funds” to match recent legislative changes she said could lead to a reduced caseload by emphasizing probation and parole reform over incarceration for nonviolent cases.
