Nearly fifty years ago, the United States Supreme Court held that all people — even poor people — are entitled to be defended by competent counsel. Anyone who watches television knows that “if you cannot afford an attorney, one will be appointed to represent you.”
What they don’t tell you on television is that, increasingly, the attorney appointed to represent you will also be representing possibly as many as 200 other people at the same time.
Meanwhile, Fresno County continues to decrease the number of Public Defenders and necessarily therefore increases the caseload of those poor souls remaining.
