On Tuesdays, we would sometimes drop in on the Deschutes County Courthouse for the regular court time for unrepresented defendants.

It was a new regular docket that Deschutes County Presiding Judge Wells Ashby began last spring to prioritize and better sort out the problem of unrepresented defendants — people entitled to a defense attorney, and the state was failing to provide them with one. Ashby and Deschutes County District Attorney Steve Gunnels would go through the cases. Ashby would apologize again and again to defendants who had no attorney present. Justice would be delayed for victims and defendants. There would be another tiny crack in justice in Oregon. And then next week it would repeat.

The worst of the unrepresented crisis is over in Deschutes County — sort of —at least temporarily. The reason: More public defenders have been hired and have started taking cases. Court Clerk Rebecca Williams should also be singled out. Ashby and Gunnels have both praised her work to find lawyers for people when the state’s system failed. Without her, it would have been much worse. Maybe she won’t get an award. She deserves the community’s thanks.

As happy as we are to report how much Deschutes County’s situation has improved, we are just as unhappy to report that elsewhere in the state, as of Monday, the injustice continues. There were still 3,746 unrepresented individuals and 1,768 previously unrepresented individuals who did not appear in court.

“If we can’t satisfy a Constitutional requirement, it’s bad for defendants, it’s bad for victims, and it undermines trust and confidence in our ability to perform our core function,” Ashby said.