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Judge suspends New Orleans prosecutions due to broke system

With the New Orleans public-defender system in dire financial trouble, Judge Arthur L. Hunter Jr. has suspended prosecutions in most cases where the defendant is too poor to afford a lawyer.

The New York Times reported Tuesday that the public-defenders system in the Crescent City is essentially out of money. The news comes on the heals of a US Justice Department report obtained by the LA Times two weeks ago finding that New Orleans need six times as many public defenders and $10 million just to be adequate.

The city’s public-defender system, like those throughout Louisiana, is funded largely through local court fees. Hunter, along with another judge, recently declared the funding scheme unconstitutional. The state plans to appeal.