Settlement reached in public defender suit
A settlement has been reached in a lawsuit that alleges a South Georgia public defender office has failed to provide adequate legal representation of adults and juveniles.
A consent decree reached Monday would require the Cordele office to hire two new public defenders and one new investigator. One of the new defenders and the new investigator is to be funded by the four counties — Ben Hill, Crisp, Dooly and Wilcox — that make up the judicial circuit. The other new public defender will be funded by the state public defender system, the agreement says.
Last year, lawyers for the Southern Center for Human Rights in Atlanta and the Washington law firm Arnold & Porter filed suit against the Cordele circuit. Among the complaints: juveniles were being denied effective representation or were, at best, provided “assembly line justice.” Adult defendants also were receiving ineffective representation, the suit said.
When the suit was filed, Cordele’s public defender office did not have a juvenile division as required by law. Children showing up in court often found there were no public defenders to represent them, yet their cases proceeded to resolution, the suit said.
Under the agreement, the Cordele defender office must now maintain a juvenile division. This will include at least one full-time public defender who will be responsible for developing and maintaining a knowledge about issues unique to the representation of children and Juvenile Court, the agreement says.
About the Author
Bill Rankin has been an AJC reporter for more than 30 years. His father, Jim Rankin, worked as an editor for the newspaper for 26 years, retiring in 1986. Bill has primarily covered the state’s court system, doing all he can do to keep the scales of justice on an even keel. Since 2015, he has been the host of the newspaper’s Breakdown podcast.
