The Orleans Public Defenders office is at a crossroads. OPD is fighting for funding to stay afloat and provide constitutional legal defense to tens of thousands of poor people moving through the New Orleans criminal justice system each year.
While our fiscal crisis would not be solved by the additional money that auditors and the inspector general agree Traffic Court owes, OPD's problems would lessen.
The New Orleans Traffic Court owes us money. It's that simple.
What does $500,000 mean to OPD? It equals about 10 attorneys. Put another way, it means the ability to handle at least 1,500 more felony cases per year. It means attorneys for clients currently on a waiting list.
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