Is 14 hours enough for a public defender (PD) to handle a felony case?
“No,” is the conclusion of a new study sponsored by the Rand Corporation.
In 1973, the National Advisory Commission on Criminal Justice Standards and Goals determined that a PD can handle a yearly maximum of 150 felony cases, 400 misdemeanors, 200 mental health cases, 200 juvenile cases, or 25 appeals.
But those standards do not take into consideration that not all felony cases are created equal.