Earlier this year, the American Bar Association published a report finding that Oregon barely had 31% of the public defenders it needed to provide adequate criminal defense to those facing criminal charges. That’s something that public defenders themselves have known and experienced first hand for many years. Carl Macpherson, executive director of the Metropolitan Public Defender, says the shortage that’s developed is unconstitutional and unethical. He says part of the problem is an increasing number of people who are entering the system because of a lack of other services, like mental health and substance abuse treatment. And, judges are dismissing cases if a needed public defender isn’t available.

“This is not a public defender crisis,” Macpherson said. “This is a total public safety system failure.”
Multnomah county district attorney Mike Schmidt called the public defender shortage a crisis in an op-ed earlier this year. He recently began publishing the criminal cases that have been dismissed because an attorney couldn’t be provided to a defendant, which is a constitutional right.
We talk with Macpherson and Schmidt in turn to get more on how the shortage is affecting all corners of the criminal justice system and what could be done to help alleviate the crisis.