A rare statement of interest by the U.S. Justice Department on behalf of juvenile criminal defendants who sued the state and Cordele Circuit judges for failing to provide them with legal representation was instrumental in forging a settlement of the case this week, said the president of the Southern Center for Human Rights in Atlanta.

Stephen Bright, who is also Southern Center's senior counsel, called the settlement, announced Tuesday, “a significant achievement” and a “sea change” for children and adults facing criminal charges in the Cordele Judicial Circuit in South Georgia.

Bright credited the DOJ's civil rights division and U.S. Attorney Michael Moore of the Middle District of Georgia for playing key roles in settling the case. Southern Center lawyers filed the suit in Fulton County last year against the Georgia Public Defender Standards Council, the agency's director, the Cordele Circuit public defender, four of the circuit's judges and four county governments in the circuit.