A Baton Rouge appeals court overturned a 2017 lawsuit's class-action status involving allegations that public defenders in Louisiana do not offer low-income individuals a fair path to justice due to the lack of resources.
Recently, G. Paul Marx, a public defender in Louisiana’s 15th Judicial District made a statement standing by public defenders..
“There are plenty of solid public defense offices across the country, and too often the approach is to talk about the lack of funding as a dystopian failure, rather than educating and informing people why Gideon vs. Wainwright is in everyone’s interest, not just our clients’ interest,” Marx said in an email statement.
Marx also dispelled a common misconception about public defenders.
“The simplicity of a court taking over the courts and the legislature is attractive because it seems so simple and obvious. But it is continuing the myth that private lawyers are better, and public defenders are bad. Nobody wants to fund services that are not valuable and well-delivered. Our messaging is off the mark," he said in the email.
A panel of judges ruled 4-1 that the plaintiffs were unable to prove commonality and typicality, according to the court’s opinion.
"Finding that the plaintiffs failed to satisfy the statutory requirements of commonality and typicality for class certification, we permit discussion on the remaining certification factors," the ruling stated.