Oregon must dismiss more than 1,400 criminal cases due to attorney shortage, court rules

Severe lack of public defenders has meant people charged with crimes have been routinely unable to fight their cases

The Oregon supreme court has ruled that a large number of criminal cases across the state must be dismissed due to a severe shortage of public defenders, a major decision that attorneys say will impact more than 1,400 pending cases.

The problem has been years in the making and has become a significant constitutional crisis, as people charged with crimes are routinely unable to fight their cases as they wait weeks, months or sometimes years for the state to appoint them lawyers. The attorney shortage - due in part to the increasing difficulty of recruiting attorneys for the low-salary, high-caseload jobs - has meant that people have had cases hanging over them for extended periods of time, impacting their housing, employment and families, advocates say.