Watch enough cop shows on TV, and you can recite the lawyer part of the Miranda warning: "if you cannot afford an attorney, one will be appointed for you." It's the second phrase that has troubled Oregon for some time now: there simply have not been enough attorneys available to appoint to represent criminal defendants who can't afford them.
The situation has produced frustrated lawyers and judges, jails faced with mass releases of unrepresented suspects, and a case in the Oregon Supreme Court. The state legislature did allocate millions of dollars to fix the situation, but the fix will take time.
Jessica Kampfe is in the middle of the situation, as the Executive Director of the Oregon Office of Public Defense Services. She talks to the JX about how things got this way, and the steps to turn them around.