Summary: GAO reviewed the implementation of the Criminal Justice Act (CJA) to determine the adequacy of the guidelines and directives provided to the district courts for implementing the act, the consistency with which the act is being implemented, and the adequacy of financial controls over funds provided by the act.
The act enables the government to provide legal representation for defendants in federal criminal cases who are not financially able to obtain representation. The government provides for this legal representation either through a federally employed public defender, a community defender organization, or a private court-appointed attorney. In the absence of clear guidance from the Judicial Conference, each judicial district and often individual judges have had to devise their own policies for administering the act. As a result, there is no assurance that defendants are receiving adequate representation, and determinations of defendants' financial ability to reimburse for attorneys' fees are inconsistent. Further, GAO found a wide range of criteria used for selecting attorneys to represent criminal defendants. Many convicted defendants who were not required to reimburse the government for legal expenses were in a similar or better financial condition than those convicted defendants ordered to reimburse. To date, the Judicial Conference has not: provided the district courts with specific guidance concerning the reimbursement of panel attorneys fees by defendants; ensured that panel attorneys adhere to guidelines requiring them to submit well documented claims for compensation; or ensured that the most efficient system for disbursing grant funds to community defender organizations is used. The Judicial Conference has legislation pending in Congress that would increase the maximum attorney fee levels and provide it the authority to establish maximum hourly attorney fee rates.
