The Yale Law Journal

Lisa R. Pruitt

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Legal Deserts and Spatial Injustice: A Study of Criminal Legal Systems in Rural Washington

Lisa R. Pruitt, Jennifer Sherman & Jennifer Schwartz

This Essay uses a mixed-methods study to sketch operation of criminal legal systems in several rural counties in central and eastern Washington.  The study reveals how an attorney shortage, along with reliance on local funding of justice system functions, is leaving defendants vulnerable to delays a…