State Assessements

 

September 2006: A Strategic Plan to Protect Fairness and Ensure Accountability in Louisiana’s Criminal Courts (National Legal Aid and Defender Association)

The New Orleans justice system had long-standing, pre-existing systemic deficiencies that were unmasked and accentuated by the catalyst Katrina. Pre-Katrina, the public defense system in New Orleans was not required to adhere to any national, state or local standards of justice resulting in public defenders handling too many cases, with insufficient support staff, practically no training or supervision, experiencing undue interference from the judiciary, all the while compromising their practices by working part-time in private practices to augment their inadequate compensation. NLADA concludes that the problems of New Orleans' public defense system cannot be fixed within the boundaries of the parish itself. Long lasting reform will necessarily take comprehensive statewide legislative action. The current indigent defense crisis is inextricably linked to the right to counsel struggles of Avoyelles, East Baton Rouge, Calcasieu or Caddo Parish. To uniformly fix all these crises, NLADA recommends changes to how the indigent defense services are administered and funded and offers a strategic plan to ensure accountability and protect fairness in Louisiana's criminal courts.

 

March 2005: Adult Report Card (Louisiana Justice Coalition)

This report card assesses Louisiana's compliance with the American Bar Association's Ten Principles of a Public Defense Delivery System . The Principles constitute the fundamental criteria necessary to design a system that provides effective, efficient, high quality, ethical, conflict-free legal representation for criminal defendants who are unable to afford an attorney.

 

 

 

March 2005: Juvenile Report Card (Louisiana Justice Coalition)

The Ten Core Principles for Providing Quality Delinquency Representation Through Indigent Defense Delivery Systems were developed by the American Council of Chief Defenders and the National Juvenile Defender Center, “to provide criteria by which an indigent defense system may fully implement the holding of In Re Gault, in which the United States Supreme Court extended the right to counsel to juveniles.” These Principles provide guidance for policymakers in devising an indigent defense delivery system for children in delinquency proceedings, as well as for those prosecuted in adult court.

 

March 2004: In Defense of Public Access to Justice: An Assessment of Trial-Level Indigent Defense Services in Louisiana 40 Years after Gideon (National Legal Aid and Defender Association and National Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers)

In direct violation of the state and federal constitutions, Louisiana government (both state and local) has constructed a disparate system that fosters systemic ineffective assistance of counsel due primarily to inadequate funding and a lack of independence from political interference. These two main systemic deficiencies produce numerous ancillary problems including a lack of oversight, training and supervision of those entrusted with the defense of the poor. When combined with the crushing caseloads public defenders are forced to carry, these factors prevent the state from securing justice for all, protecting the peace, and promoting the general welfare of its people.