GA: well, my brother-in-law for one...

From the Fayette Daily News:

Who will defend the poor?

Nearly two years after its inception, the state's Public Defenders office is taking a financial hit. With tight budget allowances, Georgia's Public Defenders agency slashed 41 full time jobs - 12 percent of its workforce - earlier this month. The layoffs, effective May 31, will increase the caseloads of the agency's remaining public defenders, officials say.

Fayette County's public defense team didn't feel the cuts directly from state budget restraints, but they are feeling the affects of increased workloads. Of more than 800 cases on the 2006 trial calendar in Fayette County Superior Court, nearly 80 percent were handled by public defenders...

(This goes out to my brother-in-law, private lawyer and defender of the downtrodden there in the Griffin circuit.)