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Oregon DOJ outlines rising appellate and post-conviction workload, cites Ramos/Watkins cases and public defense delays
Summary
Department of Justice officials told the Public Safety Subcommittee that the Defense of Criminal Convictions Fund supports appellate, post-conviction and federal habeas work, highlighted a sustained spike of non-unanimous jury cases after Ramos/Watkins and said the caseload will likely remain elevated into the next biennium.
Benjamin Gutman, solicitor general and head of the Appellate Division at the Oregon Department of Justice, and Kristen Boyd, Deputy Chief Counsel in the Trial Division, briefed the Public Safety Subcommittee on Feb. 6 about forecasting and workload for the Defense of Criminal Convictions Fund.
Gutman described the fund as covering state legal work to defend convictions and sentences in state and federal courts and estimated the legislatively approved 2023-25 budget for that fund at $41,000,000, which the agency equated to roughly 150,000 attorney hours of work. He said the workload is largely mandated because convicted persons have statutory and constitutional avenues to seek…
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