Yet to hit the Senate floor is a bill intended to overhaul Oregon’s suffering public defender system. A severe shortage of public defenders, exacerbated by a backlog of cases coming out of the pandemic, has resulted in terrible outcomes for the justice system. In some instances, cases are dismissed simply because the court has failed to line up representation for the defendant. In other cases, defendants have languished in jail for weeks or months without a lawyer. SB 337 is intended to start the ball rolling on changes to the system. It has hit roadblocks in recent days, even beyond the walkout, despite seemingly everyone agreeing that changes
→ Continue reading at KGW TV