Future of public defense threatened with fiscal collapse as coronavirus closes courts across state

The Advocate: The Louisiana Public Defender Board has long claimed their offices are dangerously underfunded, but now the financial blow dealt by the coronavirus pandemic could threaten the entire system.

Public defender districts largely rely on court-generated fines and fees, such as conviction costs and traffic ticket payments. As COVID-19 has shuttered courthouses across the state or severely restricted their services, those critical fines and fees are now in jeopardy.

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