Public defenders in Santa Cruz County will join colleagues across California and the nation April 23 in a coordinated protest highlighting what they describe as chronic underfunding and unmanageable caseloads that threaten defendants’ constitutional right to counsel.
Chief Public Defender Heather Rogers is urging community members to wear black that day in solidarity with public defense services and the Sixth Amendment right to legal representation.
Rogers said recent workload studies at the state and national level confirm that public defenders lack the time needed to adequately represent clients.
“Behind every case is a person with intertwined legal and human needs that demand skill, expertise, and time,” Rogers said. “When caseloads become unmanageable, the right to counsel becomes a right in name only.”
The April 23 action comes as public defender offices report rising caseloads, driven in part by increased felony filings under measures such as Proposition 36, without corresponding increases in staffing.
In San Francisco, the issue has already drawn court attention. Public Defender Mano Raju was held in contempt and fined $26,000 after declining to take new cases one day a week due to workload concerns; that order is currently stayed pending appeal.
Rogers framed such actions as part of an ethical obligation rather than defiance.
“When public defenders raise workload concerns, we are not stepping back—we are sounding the alarm,” she said.
The right to counsel was established in the U.S. Supreme Court’s 1963 decision in Gideon v. Wainwright, which requires states to provide attorneys for those who cannot afford them. But Rogers and others argue the mandate remains underfunded in California, where counties bear primary responsibility for financing trial-level public defense.
A recent California Public Defense Workloads and Staffing Study, commissioned by the Legislature, found most public defense attorneys carry excessive caseloads and that staffing levels are insufficient to meet demand. The report also linked those conditions to delays, inadequate case investigation and communication gaps with clients.
Rogers said the findings underscore the need for a dedicated, ongoing state funding stream.
“Relying on counties to fund public defense is not sustainable,” she said. “This is a state obligation.”
Public defenders argue that without additional resources, courts risk delays, wrongful convictions and prolonged incarceration — outcomes they say undermine both fairness and public safety.
Community members are encouraged to participate in the April 23 demonstration by wearing black and sharing messages on social media using hashtags including #FundPublicDefense and #ProtectThe6th.
Public defenders plan April 23 protest over caseloads, funding gaps
