Although its implementation has been slow, the Louisiana Public Defender Act of 2007, setting statewide standards and quadrupling state spending, is considered a bipartisan model of public defense reform. According to the National Legal Aid and Defender Association (NLADA), the act's effectiveness has been thwarted by a unique funding mechanism that ties a significant percentage of funding to local court costs collection. A proposed increase of $6.6 million in state funding was targeted to address the problem, but last week $5 million of the proposed increase was eliminated from the Louisiana Public Defender Board appropriation to be redirected for oil spill clean-up.
The NLADA report is here.
Photo: NASA natural color image of the oil slick off the Louisiana coast, April 30, 2010. Wikipedia
