Due to low compensation rates causing bar advocates to decline court-appointed cases, Massachusetts is facing a surge of unrepresented defendants in what the Massachusetts Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers described as a “full-blown constitutional breakdown” (article available here).
The association announced Monday that more than 150 people in Boston alone are awaiting their appointments of court-assigned attorneys, and nearly 40 are being held in custody without a lawyer. In Middlesex County, 16 people are being held without lawyers and 90 people are awaiting appointments.
Bar advocates, independent attorneys who are contracted by the state to represent indigent defendants in criminal cases, have been refusing to take on additional cases due to compensation rates that the MACDL said “lag far behind those in neighboring states.”
Fd.org reported in May that bar advocates who handle district court cases are paid $65 per hour. They argue that they actually earn about $20 per hour after accounting for health and malpractice insurance and other expenses. The Boston Globe and Boston.com also have coverage.
The Massachusetts Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers is urging the state legislature to increase funding for bar advocates in the state budget.