FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: April 20, 2020
Projected $800,000 Shortfall and Plummet of User-Pay Revenue from COVID-19 Shutdowns Exacerbates Funding and Resource Inequities in New Orleans’ Criminal Legal System
New Orleans – Today, the Orleans Public Defenders Office (OPD) announced the implementation of anticipated furloughs due to a projected $800,000 funding shortfall. COVID-19 has shutdown New Orleans’ courts and criminal legal system, and with it, a significant source of revenue for the office. For nearly a decade, OPD has warned of the dangerous effects of Louisiana’s user-pay system. Today, COVID-19 has exacerbated that broken and inequitable funding structure and built on the backs of poor people.
“We did not make this decision lightly and we regret the problems this will undoubtedly cause for our clients and our community," said Chief Defender Derwyn Bunton, “but we simply don’t have enough money to operate at full capacity. We have been here before and have warned decision makers time and again about the potential fallout. No one should be surprised. What remains frustrating is, even now, we are the only entity within the criminal legal system in this situation. This will have serious ramifications. The inequities are stark and it is our poorest, most vulnerable and disenfranchised citizens who pay the price.”
Furloughs began April 15 for the Leadership and Management teams with remaining staff set to begin May 1. Because of the unique situation created by court closures and virtual proceedings, the furloughs will be less clear than in the prior crises of 2012 and 2015. But the courts should be prepared for immediate delays due to the lack of representation. Should furloughs continue once court resumes, court officials and stakeholders should expect reduced presence of OPD staff and continued delays. This will mean incarcerated defendants could remain unnecessarily detained when they could have otherwise been released on bond or into various diversion programs.
Mitigation plans also call for the elimination of our conflict panel contracts and subsequent refusal of those conflict cases. It also will cease all expert and expert fees utilized for case preparation. These two actions, coupled with the furloughs, will cause the ripple effects of constitutional crisis and have devastating impacts on thousands of poor New Orleanians.
In the month since COVID-19 began its spread throughout New Orleans, OPD immediately called on officials to prioritize the health and safety of those in the jail and begin work to depopulate the Orleans Justice Center as quickly and safely as possible. An ever-growing consortium of scientific and medical professionals have called jails and prisons across the country one of the most vulnerable populations to catastrophic public health crises due to COVID-19. OPD pushed for the closure of the courts to further protect defendants, staff and the public, as well as NOPD to cease certain arrests that unnecessarily increase exposure to the coronavirus during arrest and upon entering the jail. Today, the jail population is at its lowest in decades even as the number of staff and inmates who test positive for coronavirus increase.
OPD has long called on criminal justice stakeholders, local and state officials to establish stable, adequate and equitable funding sources for public defenders. While some progress has been made locally, OPD remains out-funded and out-resourced by the District Attorney at nearly five times the rate, despite representing more than 85% of all defendants in Orleans Parish. OPD implored the Mayor and City Council to establish equity between OPD and the DA while also reiterating the ramifications the longer these inequities remain.
OPD has remained in a pattern of service restrictions since the last funding crisis of 2015 and 2016, where we were forced to refuse cases. In 2012, OPD was forced to cut $1 million and a third of its staff. Inadequate, inequitable and unreliable funding and resources continue to compromise OPD’s ability to provide mandated legal services, brings higher costs in our criminal justice system, delays justice, and ultimately puts public safety at risk.
Should enough funding become available to eliminate the need for the furloughs, OPD staff will return to full court coverage and we will immediately notify stakeholders.
