Across the state of Florida, public defenders and prosecutors are facing furloughs due to a budget shortfall, potentially leaving the criminal court system at a standstill during some of the next three months. “As we have hung to the cliff by our fingernails, this 15 percent [budget] cut is the boot stomping our hands,” the Florida Prosecuting Attorneys Association wrote to Gov. Charlie Crist recently. Public defenders say they will not be able to take any new cases, though they will still come to court on days they are not paid so their clients are not arrested or stay in jail longer. “We feel like it’s come to the point where I can’t ask the lawyers to do any more cases,” said Howard “Skip” Babb, president of the Florida Public Defender Association. The furloughs will likely create a backlog in the courts and in the offices of prosecutors and public defenders. The results could affect the entire system, from an increase in jail populations to a decrease in time spent on each case due to larger caseloads for attorneys and judges.
(T. Ruger, “Furloughs may clog courts,” Sarasota Herald Tribune, March 30, 2009). Florida spends about $51 million per year on the death penalty. It has the second largest death row in the country and has had the most death row exonerations of any state. See Costs and Representation.
