In confirmation hearings this week for U.S. Supreme Court nominee Judge Ketanji Brown Jackson, one point of contention for some Republican Senators was her past work as a federal public defender.
“Public defenders do not get to pick their clients,” Jackson said in defending her work. “They have to represent whoever comes in. It is a service. That is what you do as a federal public defender. You are standing up for the Constitutional value of representation.”
While public defenders are available to anyone charged by the feds who can’t afford an attorney, there are three federal judicial districts that don’t have an established public defender office.
One of those is the Southern District of Georgia.
“Georgia’s Southern District is probably one of the worst places in America to be poor and charged with a federal crime because of its lack of a federal defender office,” said U.S. Rep. Hank Johnson, D-Lithonia.
Johnson joined this month with U.S. Sen. Jon Ossoff in introducing a bill to establish a federal defender office in southern Georgia, along with eastern Kentucky, and the Northern Mariana Islands in the Pacific.
“The Constitution guarantees every American access to a lawyer, but the Southern District of Georgia is one of just three Federal districts that does not offer a Federal defender to Americans who need one,” Ossoff said.
The Southern District of Georgia might be more easily described as the ‘Eastern’ district — stretching from Augusta down to Dublin and Waycross, and covering the Atlantic coast from Brunswick to Savannah.
Federal judges can appoint lawyers to serve as public defenders in cases in the Southern District, but it lacks the official organization in the rest of the state, with federal defender offices in Atlanta, Macon, and Columbus.
“The lawyers and staff of this office zealously represent individuals who have been charged with federal crimes and who are financially unable to hire their own attorneys,” the Federal Defender Program states for the Middle District of Georgia.
That organization — and that focus — is what state Democrats want to see created in the Southern District.
“Every Georgian, regardless of their income, deserves access to legal defense,” said U.S. Sen. Raphael Warnock.
Legal aid for the poor has long been controversial. President Reagan tried to end funding for the Legal Services Corporation which provides civil aid to low-income Americans. President Trump made that same proposal in four straight budgets — but Congress rejected it each time.
On Wednesday morning, Ossoff made sure to mention his public defender bill during his questioning of Judge Jackson.
“I’ll be seeking support from my Republican colleagues,” Ossoff said, “to ensure there is access to counsel for defendants in my state.”
Jamie Dupree has covered national politics and the Congress from Washington, D.C. since the Reagan administration. His column appears weekly in The Atlanta Journal-Constitution. For more, check out his Capitol Hill newsletter at http://jamiedupree.substack.com
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