A federal judge in Oregon ordered all criminal defendants in the state to be released seven days after their initial hearing if they aren’t able to secure a lawyer for their case going forward.
U.S. District Judge Michael McShane made the ruling Thursday in what he said was a way of upholding the defendant’s Sixth Amendment right to an attorney.
The order takes effect Nov. 16.
“In essence, they have been locked away without a voice, being too poor to afford an advocate to speak for them in the courtroom,” Mr. McShane wrote in his opinion.
The issue came before Mr. McShane after the Oregon Federal Public Defender’s Office filed a July lawsuit that said the state wasn’t meeting its constitutional obligation to defendants.
There are more than 100 defendants in Oregon who lack legal representation, according to Portland NBC affiliate KGW.
Public defender services in the state struggle with having enough attorneys to represent the clients. The American Bar Association said in a report last year that Oregon only has 31% of the public defenders it needs.
State lawmakers approved increases to public defender pay and other structural changes to the public defender service in a bill passed this year, but those changes are expected to take time before they materialize.
The Oregon Department of Justice said it plans to appeal the ruling.
• Matt Delaney can be reached at mdelaney@washingtontimes.com.
Please read our comment policy before commenting.