Public defender Gordon Weekes, right, represented Nikolas Cruz, who was convicted in 2022 for a mass shooting in Parkland, Fla., four years earlier.
              South Florida Sun Sentinel/Amy Beth Bennett via AP

The Oregon Supreme Court on Feb. 5, 2026, issued a ruling that will have a wide impact. More than 1,400 criminal cases had to be dismissed, the justices ruled, due to lack of adequate counsel available for defendants.

Like other states, Oregon must provide defendants with legal representation if they cannot afford attorneys on their own. But Oregon has less than one-third of the attorneys it needs to provide adequate defense for indigents, or people who can’t afford counsel on their own.

Originally published on theconversation.com, part of the BLOX Digital Content Exchange.

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