Meeting its constitutional obligation to provide a lawyer to criminal defendants who can’t afford one has for too long been an intractable problem for New Hampshire. So it’s worth acknowledging
The state’s safety net for criminal defendants who can’t afford an attorney is no longer in crisis. Pay increases have slowed attorney resignations. Fewer people are waiting for a lawyer,
The state’s safety net for criminal defendants who can’t afford an attorney is no longer in crisis. Pay increases have slowed attorney resignations. Fewer people are waiting for a lawyer, and the wait is shorter. The Public Defender Program has stopped limiting new intakes and has even expanded some services.
In rural and poor communities throughout New Hampshire, defendants will sometimes sit in jail for days or weeks at a time waiting to be assigned a lawyer because they can’t