The scene: Deschutes County Circuit Court Presiding Judge Wells Ashby’s courtroom on Tuesday.

The cast: Judge Ashby, District Attorney Steve Gunnels and several defendants with no attorney

The issue: Oregon continues to fail to provide public defenders for defendants

The crux: Your state is not fulfilling a right the U.S. Supreme Court says is guaranteed under the Constitution

Tuesday mornings in Ashby’s courtroom have been the regular weekly meeting place where anyone can see Oregon’s public defender crisis in action.

It was a relief Tuesday to see a marked improvement over months ago. The list of defendants without attorneys was comparatively short – the docket listing case information was a merciful four pages compared to double or triple that months ago.

Still, though, defendants hoping to resolve their cases had to wait. One defendant asked Ashby if he could represent himself because the charge he was facing — “unlawful dissemination of an intimate image” — was interfering with his ability to get jobs.

Maybe you don’t have sympathy for his delay because of the charge. What if he did nothing wrong? Or what about the delay in justice for any victim?

Another defendant, who said she was struggling to communicate because of brain damage, has been waiting months for an attorney to resolve a case of criminal mischief in the second degree. She told Ashby some of her story, saying she needed help. “That’s why you need a lawyer,” he said.

Ashby had to say variations on the same thing to defendants repeatedly Tuesday: “We are setting a future date because there is no attorney for you.”

Public defense firms in the county have managed to bring more attorneys on staff, Ashby said. That should help.

There is a county backlog of about 85 cases where an attorney has not been found and the corresponding threat that those cases might just be dismissed. They may be dismissed without anyone deciding there was no crime.

As of Nov. 5, the state as a whole had 3,630 unrepresented defendants and another 1,687 who were previously unrepresented and failed to appear in court.

Legislators will be considering what more Oregon might do about the issue, while Tuesday’s in Ashby’s courtroom, similar scenes will continue to play out.

You can find more information about Oregon’s public defense crisis and efforts to repair it here: tinyurl.com/OPDCplan.