New York’s refusal to increase the hourly pay of lawyers who represent indigent clients in criminal cases has led to unmanageable caseloads, and attorneys leaving the panel, a civil rights lawsuit filed in a state trial court in Albany said.

Low pay is at the heart of the lawsuit, which accuses defendants Gov. Kathy Hochul and New York of breaching a historic settlement that overhauled the state’s public defense system, requiring that it implement fundamental reforms to ensure poor criminal defendants receive the legal representation that the state and U.S. constitutions require.

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