State v. Citizen (Louisiana Supreme Court, 2005)
State v. Citizen, 898 So.2d 325 (La. 2005): The Louisiana Supreme Court demands funding for indigent defense
In the 2005 case State v. Citizen, the Louisiana Supreme Court confronted the "obvious deficiencies" that plagued the Louisiana indigent defense system. Despite a constitutional mandate that requires the Louisiana legislature to "provide for a uniform system for securing and compensating qualified counsel for indigents", Louisiana was failing to fund the Indigent Defense Assistance Board it had established to meet that constitutional duty. This funding deficit robbed poor defendants of their right to effective assistance of counsel because it left public defenders unable to mount adequate defenses. The attorney for Adrian Citizen - a poor man with no money to hire a lawyer - told the Louisiana Supreme Court that this financial shortfall was illegal and asked the Court to hold the Louisiana legislature to its constitutional obligation to provide appropriate funding for indigent defense.
Finding that Louisiana had "failed to provide adequate appropriation to support" statewide indigent defense services, the Louisiana Supreme Court determined that the constitutional right to effective assistance of counsel requires the State to provide adequate funds to attorneys representing the poor. The Supreme Court declared that the "obvious deficiencies" in indigent defense funding required it to "take corrective measures to ensure that indigent defendants are provided with their constitutional and statutory rights." The Court asserted that a judge should "prohibit the State from going forward with [a] prosecution" until "adequate funds become available to provide [indigent defendants'] constitutionally protected right to counsel." Finally, the Court maintained that its decision should not alter a defendant's right to a speedy trial. State v. Citizen stands as a formal acknowledgment that a failure to fund Louisiana's indigent defense system violates the constitution by denying defendants their right to a fair trial.
Home