Here's why the Georgia Public Defender Council, mandated to defend the poor in court, does not want to provide some attorneys a critical resource to do their jobs.
A Georgia man waiting more than a decade behind bars for his day in court is one step closer to moving his case forward after an Atlanta News First investigation.
Police arrested Maurice Jimmerson and four others in 2013 for murder. A jury acquitted two, but Jimmerson has remained in jail, legally innocent, waiting for his day in court.
Access to an attorney is a right protected under the Sixth Amendment of the U.S. Constitution, but a shortage of public defenders is stretching from coast to coast.
A lack of public defenders is forcing some judges to take unprecedented actions, potentially eroding the public’s trust in the criminal justice system .
The U.S. Constitution guarantees citizens the right to an attorney to people who cannot afford one. But most state public defender offices, including Georgia's, are chronically understaffed.
An ongoing series about the constitutionally guaranteed access to legal representation in court, and the consequences when there are not enough public defenders.
