Seattle Suburbs’ Public Defense Systems Violate Constitution, Court Finds

The public-defense systems of two Washington state towns are so defective – with lawyers contracted for indigent defense bases handling more than 1,000 cases each – the Justice Department has asked that a federal monitor be put in place. U.S. District Judge Robert Lasnik found that the systems in Mt. Vernon and Burlington were so inadequate that they violated the Sixth Amendment right to the assistance of counsel in criminal prosecutions. Calling it “little more than a ‘meet and plead’ system,” Lasnik found in favor of the American Civil Liberties Union which, along with some private citizens, brought the class-action suit against the cities in June.