Lawyers “in criminal courts are necessities, not luxuries,” the U.S. Supreme Court stated in the 1963 decision Gideon v. Wainwright. “The right of one charged with [a] crime to counsel may not be deemed fundamental and essential to fair trials in some countries, but it is in ours.”

Oregon, though, isn’t treating a lawyer as a necessity. Oregon justice is hit and miss.

Indigent criminal defendants awaiting trial are entitled to an attorney. Oregon is continuing to fail to provide one. As of July 3, the state had 3,046 unrepresented defendants.

“We cannot allow the current state of affairs to be normalized,” Gov. Tina Kotek recently wrote in a letter to the Oregon agency that oversees public defenders, the Oregon Public Defense Commission. “It is corrosive to our system of justice and fundamental constitutional values. The current situation serves neither victims of crime nor persons charged with an offense.”

At a Tuesday morning hearing, Deschutes County Circuit Court Presiding Judge Wells Ashby went through case after case in the county where the state had failed to provide attorneys for defendants.

The consequences are significant. Criminal defendants are released after seven days in custody, if they have not received an attorney. The level of their crime does not matter. Some defendants have not appeared for their next hearing. Some commit crimes again. Victims get long waits for justice.

“It’s not getting any better in the near run or long run,” Deschutes County Circuit Court Judge Beth Bagley told representatives from the county’s justice system on Tuesday.

Deschutes County District Attorney Steve Gunnels said the blame is with the public defense commission for a system that does not meet reality.

The commission is working on a plan to eliminate the public defense deficit, hiring attorneys and updating how it monitors them. It doesn’t seem to have improved what’s going on in Deschutes County, yet.