Since 2022, Idaho has implemented sweeping reforms to its public defense system, shifting from a fragmented county-based model to a centralized, state-funded Office of the Public Defender. These changes, finalized in October 2024, aimed to address long-standing constitutional concerns about inadequate legal representation for indigent defendants. Now, the Idaho Supreme Court is reviewing whether the…
Earlier in 2025, Idaho legislators passed a bill allowing the death penalty in cases of aggravated lewd conduct involving children under the age of 12, despite a 2008 U.S. Supreme Court ruling that such punishments for non-homicide crimes are unconstitutional. The law, set to take effect in July, introduces a new offense—aggravated lewd conduct under…
The ACLU of Idaho is urging the Idaho Supreme Court to step in and address what it calls a public defense crisis, alleging that the State’s recent overhaul of its public defense system is leaving indigent defendants without proper legal representation. After Idaho transitioned to a statewide public defender agency in October, mass resignations due…