Chief Justice Pascal Calogero of the Louisiana Supreme Court called upon the state leg­is­la­ture to pro­vide ade­quate fund­ing for indi­gent defen­dants in his State of the Judiciary address. The court had ear­li­er ruled that judges may halt pros­e­cu­tions in cas­es where funds have not been made avail­able for an ade­quate defense. The Justice con­clud­ed:

As a Supreme Court Justice, I must be an advo­cate of com­pli­ance with the man­dates of our state and fed­er­al con­sti­tu­tions, and there­fore, I admon­ish you, sim­ply, to do the right thing. Provide for a work­able and ade­quate­ly fund­ed indi­gent defense sys­tem, so that anoth­er vic­tim does not have to go through the agony of an over­turned con­vic­tion and repeat of gru­el­ing tri­al tes­ti­mo­ny, or so that an inno­cent per­son is spared the ordeal of an unjust con­vic­tion and pun­ish­ment. This is just one of your many chal­lenges, as well as your respon­si­bil­i­ty. Let us show the peo­ple that our State is more than up to that chal­lenge.

(2005 State of the Judiciary Address to the Louisiana Legislature, Pascal F. Calogero, Jr., Chief Justice, Supreme Court of Louisiana, May 3, 2005). See also Representation and New Voices.

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