By Danielle Smith, Keystone State News Connection
More than 60 counties in Pennsylvania have a shortage of public defenders for low-income residents who need these services.
This Friday in Pittsburgh, a recruitment event takes place to help fill jobs for public defenders’ offices statewide. The University of Pittsburgh School of Law cohosts the statewide Career Day event with the Public Defender Association of Pennsylvania, to help connect law students from any law school with potential jobs.
Megan Lovett, director of public interest and pro bono initiatives at the university, said so far, they have 50 or more applications, for internships and attorney positions.
“We’ve had students that interviewed at this fair last year that ended up getting jobs in a county that maybe they wouldn’t have considered before, and a county that may have had trouble recruiting from the law student population,” Lovett reported.
She hopes like last year, counties across the state will see applicants from this event. Each year, public defenders’ offices handle cases which would normally require more than 1,200 full-time attorneys but only about 850 are working statewide.
Andrew Capone, assistant director of training for the Public Defender Association of Pennsylvania, said he will be at the career fair, connecting law schools and individuals with these job opportunities. He argued a lack of state funding limits public defenders’ offices, which drives the current shortage. But legislation passed last year should ensure indigent defense services for those who can’t afford representation.
“Pennsylvania was, up until last year, one of the only two states in the country that did not fund a public defender office; they left it to the counties,” Capone pointed out. “Since that time, Governor Shapiro has given what he and I refer to as a ‘down payment’ on statewide indigent defense.”
Capone said Gov. Josh Shapiro allocated $7.5 million in the state budget, but divided among 67 counties, the effect is minimal, funding perhaps one additional attorney or staff member per office.
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Source: bctv