#PublicDefenders are chronically overworked in the US, as the government has never adequately funded them as required by law. On #ThisDayInHistory in 1963 the #SCOTUS ruled that states have a constitutional obligation to provide counsel to those who cannot afford hiring a lawyer.

For #StPatricksDay I'll note that it was on #ThisDayInHistory in 1846 that one of the first waves of emigrants driven out by the #GreatHunger left Dublin for New York. Within five years a full million had left #Ireland; the population there has still not reached pre-famine level.