Federal public defenders help provide free legal council to those who otherwise would not be able to afford it. But without the resources to keep paying salaries and essential services, in some ways the federal public defender system of today is worse off than it was ten years ago.
Reporter Rachel Monroe has been following this issue for Aljazeera America and hosts today's Talk at Ten and speaks to federal public defender Maureen Franco and Human Rights Watch's Grace Meng about the situation here in West Texas.
For an in-depth look into the issue, you can read Monroe's article here.
