While the shortage is causing many cases to be dismissed or to languish, this isn’t necessarily the case with the shoplifting charges we looked at, many of which are simply not prosecuted. That said, it's difficult to tell how much of a knock-on effect the shortage is having across our criminal justice system. Read more: https://www.kgw.com/article/news/politics/bonamici-legislation-address-public-defender-shortage/283-9bdc8ba7-2781-4019-b966-8460ff38fc2c Watch more The Story videos: http://bit.ly/watchTheStory Follow The Story on Twitter: https://twitter.com/TheStoryKGW Follow The Story on Instagram: https://instagram.com/thestorykgw