Defendants on the lower end of the socio-economic scale find themselves at the mercy of public defenders who are swamped with cases, understaffed, and underfunded. Research shows that even before mass incarceration accelerated in the 1980s, overburdened systems of indigent defense struggled to meet the 6th Amendment constitutional mandate. Public defenders usually have the deck stacked against them due to discovery laws favoring prosecutors and lack of sufficient resources.
"The Georgia Supreme Court ruled in two separate cases Monday that it’s unconstitutional for the government to detain defendants declared mentally incompetent to stand trial while evaluating whether they can be restored to competency."
Atlanta Daily Report
June 19, 2018
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