PBS News Weekend

Amidst a prodigious state budget shortfall caused by the sinking fortunes of the oil and gas industry, Louisiana has underfunded its Constitutionally-guaranteed public defenders for the indigent. The shortage is causing severe delays in court cases statewide, resulting in many pretrial detainees being jailed longer. In New Orleans, where the number of public defenders has shrunk by half, NewsHour Weekend Special Correspondent John Larson reports Sunday on how this predicament is playing out.