Warren, et al. v. Commonwealth, et al.
- Filed: June 13, 2024
- Status: Filed
- Court: Commonwealth Court of Pennsylvania
- Latest Update: Jun 12, 2024
On June 13, 2024, the ACLU-PA filed a lawsuit against Governor Josh Shapiro and the leadership of the state General Assembly challenging the inadequate representation provided to indigent criminal defendants in Pennsylvania courts.
As a result of decades of inadequate funding and oversight of its public defense system, indigent Pennsylvanians are at risk of being denied their constitutional right to effective assistance of counsel in their criminal cases.
The lawsuit was brought by 17 indigent Pennsylvanians facing criminal prosecution without effective assistance of counsel at each stage of their criminal proceedings. They brought the lawsuit on behalf of a class of all indigent Pennsylvanians at similar risk of harm due to the Commonwealth’s systemic failure to fund and supervise indigent defense services.
The lawsuit asks a Pennsylvania court to rule that the current state of public defense services in Pennsylvania violates the constitution, so that the governor and the General Assembly will protect our constitutional rights by adequately funding public defense in Pennsylvania.
- 06/13/2024 Warren v Commonwealth Petition for Review FINAL.pdf
Date Filed: 06/13/2024
Court: Commonwealth Court of Pennsylvania
Affiliate: PA
Download documentWhat Pennsylvania’s failure to fund public defenders means across the commonwealth
This is a small snapshot of evidence in our lawsuit against the state over its failure to fund public defenders. As it stands, the commonwealth, excluding the Defender Association of Philadelphia, is tied with Mississippi for dead last in per capita funding of public defenders.
By Veronica Miller, Ari Shapell
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What Pennsylvania’s failure to fund public defenders means across the commonwealth
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SB 1317 | Establishing a statewide Indigent Defense Advisory Committee
HB 1085 | Establishing an Indigent Defense Advisory Committee and grant fund
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