THE DEFENSE
NEVER RESTS
draw up a report on how it will
“meet its constitutional obligations” to poor defendants. He also
rules that Flora can no longer refuse representation to poor clients.
For Mary Catherine Roper, the
lead attorney for the ACLU on the
suit, the decision is a substantial
victory. The judge recognized the
sorry state of the Luzerne defender’s office and ordered the county
to figure out how to fix it, she says.
It’s a decision she thinks will
resonate throughout the state.
“Everybody should take notice
of this,” she says. “Adequacy of
counsel is not theoretical. It is
something that can be enforced.”
“We think it’s a very big deal,”
she says.
Jack Dean, the county’s attorney, sees it very differently. In an
interview, he says that the judge’s
order to improve the quality of
public defense services might be
accomplished through a reorganization of the public defender’s
office, not necessarily through
providing more resources. “I
don’t think it’s in their favor,”
he says of the ruling.
“The county is very happy with
this.”
But Roper scoffed at the idea
that a simple office reorganiza-
HUFFINGTON
10.28.12
tion could fix the flaws in the defender’s office. “If Jack thinks that
they can propose a restructuring
of the public defender’s office that
magically enables 20 lawyers to
handle 4,000 cases a year, let him
come up with the plan,” she says.
The two sides remain in mediation, and if they cannot reach
a deal, the lawsuit will return to
the courts, with uncertain results. Flora will fight it out to
the bitter end if necessary. “I’ll
not back down under any circumstances,” he says.
Given the complexity of the
case, a full resolution is probably years away, and Olexa isn’t
sure he can last that long. The job
is taking a toll on his health and
straining his relationship with
his girlfriend, who is tired of him
spending more time at the county
jail than at home with her. On the
other hand, he’s inspired by Flora’s crusade to reform the defender’s office. “I feel like I’m part of
a change in the system,” he says.
“This is why I got into the law in
the first place.”
“I’m going to stick around as
long as I can,” he says.
Anna Sanders contributed
reporting.