By Kelly Were
New Mexico’s justice system is facing a profound crisis as dozens of private defence attorneys have stopped accepting court-appointed cases for indigent defendants, protesting the state’s chronic failure to fund its Criminal Justice Act (CJA) programme.
The programme, which compensates lawyers for representing defendants who cannot afford one, exhausted its annual budget on 3rd July, leading to the longest funding shutdown in state history, now exceeding 36 days and forcing over 50 lawyers to refuse new assignments.
The attorneys involved insist their action is not a strike but a necessary response to an impossible situation. “We are being asked to provide a constitutional service for free. This is not a strike; it is a fiscal impossibility,” said a lead organiser of the boycott.
The situation has created a domino effect throughout the courts. Without lawyers to appoint, judges are being forced to delay arraignments and trials, leading to crowded jail cells and a growing backlog of cases. One trial court judge, speaking on condition of anonymity, lamented, “My docket is logjammed. The right to a speedy trial is becoming a hollow promise for dozens of defendants.”
The stalemate raises grave constitutional concerns under the Sixth Amendment and the landmark 1963 Supreme Court ruling in Gideon v. Wainwright, which guaranteed legal counsel for all criminal defendants. The state’s Chief Public Defender warned, “The entire indigent defence system is on the verge of collapse, creating a constitutional crisis in our courts.”
The protest by private lawyers, who form a crucial part of the indigent defence network, underscores a systemic failure in state budgeting and prioritisation. With no immediate solution in sight, the rights of the most vulnerable individuals in the legal system hang in the balance, and the fundamental promise of a fair trial is being undermined daily.
