Public defenders there filed suit against the state.

In September, a Florida judge ruled that the public defenders’ office in Miami-Dade County could refuse to represent many of those arrested on lesser felony charges so its lawyers could provide a better defense for other clients.

The state is appealing the ruling.

On Friday, the Florida Supreme Court sent the case to an appellate court for a ruling. If the judge’s decision is upheld, it will force courts here to draw lawyers from a smaller state office and contract with private lawyers to represent defendants, at greater expense.

It's a national problem:

“In my opinion, there should be hundreds of such motions or lawsuits,” said Norman Lefstein, a professor at the Indiana University School of Law and an expert on criminal justice.

“I think the quality of public defense around the country is absolutely deteriorating,” Mr. Lefstein said, asserting that unless states spent more on lawyers, the courts would force them to delay trials or, as has happened in a few cases, threaten to drop charges against unrepresented defendants.

The most immediate impact of the rushed justice, Mr. Lefstein and Mr. Carroll said, is that innocent defendants may feel pressure to plead guilty or may be wrongfully convicted — which means the real offenders would be left untouched. Appeals claiming inadequate defense are very difficult to win, experts say.

Lawyers are leaving the public defenders offices as a result:

“There’s a race to the bottom here. As the loads worsen, the more experienced lawyers leave. But the cases continue to come in.”

The comedian Lenny Bruce used to say, "The only justice in the halls of justice is in the halls." Here's an example:

[Public defender Arthur] Jones, in between hushed conversations with clients in the hallway or the holding pen, said he wished he had more time to investigate cases and could go to trial more often, rather than accepting the police version of events and then, after a short discussion, helping his clients make a life-altering deal. “I’d love to have time to visit the crime scene and do more legal research,” Mr. Jones said.

Jones quit for private practice last week. His salary when he left: $44,000 a year.

Lawyers in Missouri say their system is on the verge of collapse, In Michigan, defenders call their state's justice "McJustice."

Other states with lawsuits or public defenders turning down cases: Tennessee, Minnesota, Maryland and Arizona.

In New York,

In New York City, financing from the city and state for criminal defense declined by $2.7 million this year, from a budget of just over $90 million. Meanwhile, the annual number of cases has climbed to 226,000, from 210,000 in 2006.

This is an area where President-Elect Barack Obama could make a difference. But, will he? Not if he lets Joe Biden make the calls. Check out his latest omnibus crime bill, S. 2237, the Crime Control and Prevention Act of 2007.

It's filled with appropriations -- for the Departments of Justice, the Treasury, Homeland Security, DEA, , etc.

Section 5109 alone provides for $36 million a year for each of the next two years to prosecute drug offenses.

(1) $15,000,000 is for salaries and expenses of the Drug Enforcement Administration;

(2) $15,000,000 is for salaries and expenses for the Offices of United States Attorneys;

(3) $4,000,000 each year is for salaries and expenses for the Criminal Division; and

(4) $2,000,000 is for salaries and expenses for the Office of the Attorney General for the management of such prosecutions.

Money for the defense? Zero.

Section 2274: $6,500,000 a year for three years for training prosecutors. Training defenders? Zilch.

On violent crime, Section 2265 has grants

to hire additional prosecutors to-- (A) allow more cases to be prosecuted; and

(B) reduce backlogs

Money for defenders? Nada.

No wonder we have a problem with public defender overload. The justice system is like a three-legged stool. One leg is the prosecution, one the defense and one the court. You take one leg away and the whole system falls down.

Biden's latest bill (like his earlier ones) is filled with over-funding for police and prosecution. Obama should appoint a task force to figure out how to cut the prosecution pork from the bill and give some bacon to the defense. And he should keep Biden in the foreign affairs department and as far away from crime issues as possible.