The Sixth

The head of the Georgia Public Defenders Council is admitting her agency is struggling to hire public defenders to represent those accused of a crime.

Examples abound of a broken legal defense system that oftentimes leaves poor defendants without an attorney for months, even years.

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.