LA PUBLIC DEFENDERS OFFICE FUNDING - The Louisiana Justice Reinvestment Task Force has been charged with making criminal justice reform recommendations aimed at reducing the incarceration rate, but funding for public defenders has not been considered. The Task Force will make recommendations to the state legislature in the next few weeks. A class action suit, filed last month in state district court, is seeking to have that funding mechanism declared unconstitutional. Meanwhile, 33 of the state’s 42 public defender offices are turning away clients due to lack of resources.