On December 15, 2009, indigent criminal defendants filed this class action lawsuit against the State of Georgia and its Public Defender Standards Council ("GPDSC") in the Superior Court of Fulton County, Georgia. Plaintiffs sought mandamus, declaratory and injunctive relief to compel Defendants to provide them and others similarly situated with adequate, effective, and conflict-free counsel to assist in their motions for new trial and appellate proceedings.

On Febrary 23, 2010, the Court (Judge Jerry W. Baxter) granted the Petition for Mandamus and certified the class.

The parties entered a Consent Decree, approved by the Court, on December 14, 2011. During the course of the litigation, the backlog of requests for conflict-free appellate counsel had been cleared, so the decree set standards for future procedures. The parties agreed to a three-month evaluation period, hiring of additional full-time staff attorneys in the Appellate Division of the GPDSC, workload controls, hiring standards, attorney qualifications, supervisory policies, and training.

For contract attorneys, the decree sets fees which take into account the length and difficulty of each case, establishes minimum qualifications, hiring, and monitoring of contract counsel.

Additionally, the defendants agreed to establish and maintain an electronic database to track implementation of the provisions of the consent decree and to provide periodic reports to class counsel.

Denise Heberle - 01/25/2012


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