ACR 159: Indigent defense.

WHEREAS, The Sixth and Fourteenth Amendments to the United States Constitution guarantee the right to counsel for criminal defendants who cannot afford an attorney, as recognized by the United States Supreme Court in Gideon v. Wainwright (1963) 372 U.S. 335; and

WHEREAS, The California Constitution independently guarantees due process of law and the right to counsel in criminal proceedings; Section 15 of Article I of the California Constitution provides that a defendant in a criminal cause has the right to the assistance of counsel; and

WHEREAS, California statutory law implements and enforces this constitutional mandate, including subdivision (a) of Section 987 and related provisions of the Penal Code, which require the appointment of counsel for indigent defendants and establish the framework through which the state and counties fulfill the right to counsel; and

WHEREAS, These constitutional and statutory guarantees reflect California’s longstanding commitment to the principle that justice must not depend on wealth, status, or access to private resources; and

WHEREAS, Public defenders and other indigent defense providers are the means by which California meets its constitutional and statutory obligations to provide counsel to people who cannot afford to hire an attorney; and

WHEREAS, Effective and meaningful representation is essential to due process, equal protection, and the legitimacy of the criminal legal system, and the right to counsel is not satisfied by the mere appointment of an attorney without adequate time, resources, and support; and

WHEREAS, Public defenders safeguard constitutional rights by enforcing limits on government power, challenging unlawful searches and seizures, ensuring fair trials, protecting against wrongful convictions, and holding the government to its burden of proof; and

WHEREAS, By protecting the constitutional rights of their clients in individual cases, public defenders also protect the constitutional rights of everyone, strengthening the rule of law, preserving civil liberties, and reinforcing public confidence in democratic institutions; and

WHEREAS, There is a growing national consensus, supported by empirical research, that excessive workloads and chronic underresourcing prevent public defenders from providing constitutionally effective representation; the National Public Defense Workload Study 2023 establishes modern, data-driven workload measures demonstrating that prevailing caseloads in many jurisdictions far exceed levels consistent with effective representation; and

WHEREAS, In response to this research and longstanding concerns regarding excessive workloads, the Washington Supreme Court adopted new indigent defense caseload standards in 2025, to be implemented over time, recognizing that excessive caseloads threaten the right to effective assistance of counsel; and

WHEREAS, Public defender offices across the nation, including in California, remain chronically understaffed and underresourced, often lacking sufficient attorneys, investigators, and support staff to meet constitutional obligations; and

WHEREAS, California’s indigent defense system is primarily county-based, and the state does not provide comprehensive or reliable statewide funding to ensure that public defense systems are adequately staffed and resourced to meet constitutional standards; and

WHEREAS, Funding for public defense in California is markedly lower than funding for prosecution, with counties collectively allocating substantially more resources to district attorney offices than to public defender offices, creating systemic imbalance in the adversarial process; and

WHEREAS, State-controlled funding mechanisms and grant programs have historically provided significantly greater support to prosecution-related functions than to indigent defense, reinforcing disparities and limiting counties’ ability to achieve functional parity between prosecution and defense; and

WHEREAS, Persistent underfunding and lack of parity undermine the fairness and reliability of the justice system, contribute to delays and inefficiencies, increase the risk of wrongful convictions, and erode public trust in the courts; and

WHEREAS, California has both a constitutional obligation and a moral responsibility to ensure that its indigent defense systems are adequately funded, appropriately staffed, and capable of providing effective representation consistent with constitutional mandates; now, therefore, be it

Resolved by the Assembly of the State of California, the Senate thereof concurring, That the Legislature affirms the fundamental importance of indigent defense to due process, equal justice, and democratic governance, and recognizes public defenders as essential protectors of constitutional rights and the rule of law; and be it further

Resolved, That the Legislature acknowledges that chronic underfunding and lack of parity between prosecution and defense threaten the integrity of the adversarial system and the effective assistance of counsel guaranteed by the United States and California Constitutions; and be it further

Resolved, That the Legislature encourages the development of statewide approaches to indigent defense that incorporate empirical workload measures, promote sustainable staffing and funding, improve data collection and transparency, and ensure that state funding structures do not perpetuate inequities between prosecution and defense; and be it further

Resolved, That the Chief Clerk of the Assembly transmit copies of this resolution to the Governor, the Judicial Council of California, the Legislative Analyst’s Office, the Department of Finance, appropriate legislative committees, and to the author for appropriate distribution.