Sen. Jon Ossoff, D-Ga., has urged the Judicial Conference to take further action to ensure that all defendants, particularly low-income ones, have access to counsel for their initial appearance in federal court.

In a Friday letter made public Wednesday that is addressed to the members of the Judicial Conference — the policymaking body for the federal courts — Ossoff cited a study published in October 2022 by the University of Chicago Federal Criminal Justice Clinic that found more than a quarter of federal district courts failed to appoint a lawyer for the initial appearance of low-income individuals who had been arrested.

"According to researchers, ten federal courts consistently deny defendants access to counsel: District of Arizona, Western District of Kentucky, Northern District of West Virginia, Eastern District of Virginia, Northern District of Mississippi, District of the Northern Mariana Islands, and the Northern, Southern, Eastern, and Western Districts of Texas," Ossoff wrote. "By denying defendants timely access to counsel, each of these district courts violate both federal law and the federal rules of criminal procedure."

In March 2024, the Judicial Conference's Committee on Defender Service issued a memo reminding courts of their statutory requirements to provide legal representation for all defendants, "yet the problem persists," Ossoff said.

"I urge the Judicial Conference to prioritize this issue as a matter of urgent concern and bring the offending district courts into compliance with federal law immediately to ensure that no individual is jailed without the benefit of legal representation at the outset of their case," the senator wrote.

The Administrative Office of the U.S. Courts declined to comment.

The University of Chicago study found that arrestees who don't have lawyers at their initial appearance are detained at higher rates than those with counsel.

"It's not only unlawful under federal statute [to not provide counsel], but it's also fundamentally unfair; it creates geographic disparities because now your access to counsel depends on the accident of the district, the federal court, in which you're charged," Alison Siegler, clinical professor of law and director of the Federal Criminal Justice Clinic at the University of Chicago Law School, told Law360 on Wednesday. "If judges are applying federal law unevenly across the country, we have this two-tiered system of justice."

The people affected by this are the ones who can't afford counsel, she added.

Siegler said the Judicial Conference memo last year was "very important" as it reminded courts of their statutory requirements. There has been "some real progress" since the memo was issued, she said, adding that she was happy to see Ossoff's letter to further underscore the issue.

Not mentioned in the senator's letter is the current funding crisis the federal defenders are facing. Funds for these attorneys appointed under the Criminal Justice Act, who supplement the work of federal defenders, ran out in July.

"Everyone is entitled to a lawyer, not just to represent them at this initial appearance hearing ... but also throughout the case," Siegler said. "If you have a funding crisis where the federal public defenders don't have the funding they need, where federal appointed lawyers, CJA lawyers, are not getting their funding and being paid for their work, then of course you're going to have a situation where there [are] potential problems making sure everyone gets represented."

--Editing by Rich Mills.