The program that pays court-appointed private attorneys to represent indigent federal criminal defendants has run out of money, starting the clock on a painful three-month delay in paying these attorneys and their related service providers for constitutionally mandated legal work.
The funding crisis has prompted concern throughout the federal Judiciary that many of these private lawyers, known as panel attorneys, could decline new cases. That could leave defendants, even those on death row, without adequate representation.
Read the full press release at the United States Courts website. It was published this morning.
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