THE DEFENSE
NEVER RESTS
tenced young offenders to detention at 2.5 times the state average.
Basil Russin, Luzerne County’s
chief public defender since 1980,
resigned in disgrace, and county
commissioners tapped Flora to
fill his post.
He instituted major reforms in
juvenile defense, but quickly saw
that the office’s representation
of adult defendants also desperately needed reform. Attorneys
in the office, beginning with Ed
HUFFINGTON
10.28.12
Olexa, told him they were carrying caseloads that far exceeded
the American Bar Association’s
recommended national guidelines. He began warning county
leaders and the courts that a major investment in new attorneys
and support staff was desperately
needed. In response, the county
proposed cutting his budget by 12
percent. It wasn’t a particularly
surprising reaction.
“Our county probably looks
at our office as representing all
the scum of the earth,” Flora
says. “They think that’s it’s not
Al Flora Jr.,
the Luzerne
County chief
public defender, sued
the county
government
over their failure to provide
the necessary
resources for
his attorneys.