LOPD News:
New Mexico’s public defenders and supporters are joining a nationwide day of solidarity to help raise the alarm about public defense sustainability. Severe and chronic underfunding combined with overwhelming caseloads are pushing public defense to the breaking point and endangering the Sixth Amendment right to counsel.
Participants in the awareness campaign plan to wear black on Thursday and lead conversations online and in their communities. The nationwide effort follows the recent contempt sanction against San Francisco Chief Public Defender Mano Raju. He was fined $26,000 for refusing to take on new clients because his office could no longer provide constitutionally adequate representation under unsustainable workloads.
New Mexico has faced this crisis for years. In 2016, Chief Public Defender Bennett Baur led the state’s first case refusal in Lea County and faced contempt of court for refusing to continue to overload attorneys beyond what the Constitution allows.
“This fight is not about public defenders wanting an easier workday. It’s about the balance between community safety and the rights of individuals facing imprisonment. Without available and engaged public defenders, ‘liberty and justice for all’ is just a slogan,” Chief Baur said.
While Baur’s contempt case was a decade ago, the brink remains near for the Law Offices of the Public Defender and clients. New Mexicans across the state can face trial with an attorney so overloaded with work they don’t have adequate time to investigate, meet with clients or prepare for trial. Caseloads have risen past pre-COVID levels, and many offices are operating at or beyond maximum capacity. Despite years of advocacy, this year’s legislative session again failed to deliver the funding LOPD needs. Meanwhile, prosecutors and law enforcement continue to receive significant budget increases.
“Wearing black on Thursday won’t solve these entrenched issues, but it is an act of solidarity that reminds us we aren’t alone in this fight and that we must get our communities to understand the risks ahead,” Baur said.