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(FOX40.COM) — Private attorneys who represent low-income defendants in federal court said they haven’t been paid in more than four months, and now, with the ongoing government shutdown, there’s still no end in sight.
Over 40 attorneys in the Sacramento area are part of the Criminal Justice Act Panel, a group of private lawyers appointed to represent federal defendants who can’t afford counsel. Across the nation, roughly 12,000 CJA attorneys are facing the same problem.
Two major issues led to the current crisis: a software upgrade to the federal court’s payment system and a funding shortfall after Congress cut judiciary funding earlier this year.
Attorney David Fischer said the money simply ran out over the summer.
“Congress allocated money for a budget for defender services, and that money ran out as of July 3rd, 2025. And as a result of that occurring, the members of the panel were told to keep working and keep submitting your bills,” said Fischer. “Once Congress either passes a new budget on October 1st or passes a thing called a continuing resolution to keep the government in action, there will be more money, and you will be paid for the work that you’ve done.”
When the new fiscal year began Oct. 1, lawyers expected payments to resume but then the federal shutdown started.
“The government has not provided any money to us,” Fischer said. “Therefore, attorneys have to front costs for gas, travel, hotel stays, and even more.”
Despite not being paid, CJA attorneys are still required to represent clients, but they can no longer pay for investigators, interpreters, or expert witnesses, which they say cripples the defense process.
Attorney Todd Leras said the funding freeze isn’t just about lawyers getting paychecks, it’s about the constitutional right to counsel.
“None of this is really about us getting paid. It’s about the clients not being represented,” Leras said. “They’re entitled to have a lawyer appointed. We’re private lawyers. We go in, we use our expertise to represent them, and we need people to help us.”
“We need interpreters often because people accused of crime often don’t speak English well enough to where they understand what’s going on without an interpreter,” he said. “We need an investigator, and right now, our service providers are not being paid.”
Leras says the issue has become nationwide, leaving many defendants in limbo.
“This is a nationwide problem, not just in this district, but throughout the country,” Leras said.
Attorney Mark Reichel says many of the lawyers on the panel are veterans in the legal field who could earn much more elsewhere but continue to serve because they believe in the system.
“The people here have over 200 years, probably, of experience in federal criminal work,” Reichel said. “These are people who can easily charge $700 an hour on Capitol Mall here, and we’re doing it for a substantially reduced rate.”
He adds that while other federal employees are getting paid, defense lawyers are the exception.
“So the federal judges are paid, all these other federal employees… except for the defenders,” Reichel said. “We’re the only ones not getting paid. And so, you know, there’s just no dispute. It violates the Constitution every angle that you view it from.”
For now, CJA attorneys continue to show up to court, even as bills pile up and uncertainty grows.
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Cedric Hood
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