The bill would begin to change Oregon’s practice of contracting private public defenders without offering competitive pay, which has led to chronic shortages.
SALEM, Ore. — Editor’s note: Updated Wednesday, June 21 with the news that SB 337 has now passed both the Senate and the House.
The Oregon legislature on Wednesday approved a bill meant to finally address the state’s overburdened public defender system, a systemic problem that only became more acute coming out of the COVID-19 pandemic.
Oregon’s public defense system is unique in the U.S. because it relies entirely on contracted law firms and private defense attorneys. Because of the state’s
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