Public defense gets historic $5.5M

Legislative budget writers took a historic step this morning, voting unanimously in favor of spending $5.5 million next year to fund the Public Defense Commission and reform Idaho’s system of providing public defenders to defendants who can’t afford attorneys – a system that a state-commissioned study three years ago found to be constitutionally deficient, and that’s already faced a class-action lawsuit, though the case was dismissed on procedural grounds/ Betsy Russell , Eye on Boise. More here.