Donny Hiers

Ms. Mathis

Senior Project

9 December 2022

Annotated Bibliography #4

Oppel, Richard A., and Jugal K. Patel. “One Lawyer, 194 Felony Cases, and No Time.” The New

York Times, The New York Times, 31 Jan. 2019,

https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2019/01/31/us/public-defender-case-loads.html.

Since my next portion of job shadowing will be with a public defender, I

researched the average number of cases a public defender has and compared it to his

cases. It says in the article that a PD in Louisiana has roughly 194 cases. This article

discusses the fact that the constitution says how everyone has the right to an effective

representation in court, but it discusses how that is a flawed system because public

defenders have so many cases, it is hard to effectively and completely deal with all of

them with the same care.

This interview shows how much work public defenders have, and how much

attention and dedication the job takes. It is reliable because it is a well known publisher

and is credible and established. It is also accurate because many public defenders deal

with these issues, and I am witnessing them firsthand due to the fact that I am in

communication with one right now.

This article reinforced what I already knew, but wanted to know about. It really

sheds light on the day-to-day activities and caseloads of public defenders. This really
makes me sit back and re-evaluate what it is I want to do, and whether or not the job is

for me. It takes a lot of dedication and passion, and can often be a thankless job.