Indigent defense.
Fiscal committee
No
Current location
Chaptered
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Progress
Where this bill stands in the legislative process.
- Introduced
- Passed Assembly
- Passed Senate
- To Governor
- Became Law
Overview
This resolution affirms the importance of indigent defense in California, recognizing public defenders as crucial for upholding due process and equal justice. It acknowledges that chronic underfunding and disparities between prosecution and defense threaten the fairness of the legal system and the ability of public defenders to provide effective representation. The resolution encourages the development of statewide approaches to indigent defense that prioritize sustainable staffing, funding, and data transparency.
Key provisions
- Affirms the importance of indigent defense for due process, equal justice, and democratic governance.
- Recognizes public defenders as essential protectors of constitutional rights.
- Acknowledges chronic underfunding and lack of parity between prosecution and defense.
- Encourages the development of statewide approaches to indigent defense.
- Promotes the use of empirical workload measures.
- Suggests improvements in data collection and transparency.
- Calls for state funding structures that do not perpetuate inequities.
- Directs the Secretary of the Senate to distribute copies of the resolution.
Who is affected
- Criminal defendants who cannot afford an attorney
- Public defenders and indigent defense providers
- County governments (responsible for indigent defense)
- District attorneys' offices
- The California legal system as a whole
Bill text
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Sponsors
Official sponsors from legislative records.
66 on record
Primary sponsor
Cosponsors
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