Renae Summers
@raltsummers.bsky.social
Federal criminal defense lawyer in NC & SC, knitter, spinner, sports fanatic, remedial equestrian, half-assed crafter, Cabo obsessed vacationer, dog lover.
Reposted by Renae Summers
This is more than the shutdown - the fedrral courts ran out of money to pay defense attorneys in JULY.
Congress continues to underfund the Constitutional requirement that poor people get a defense lawyer - the CJA attorneys haven't been paid for 5 months
www.uscourts.gov/data-news/ju...
Congress continues to underfund the Constitutional requirement that poor people get a defense lawyer - the CJA attorneys haven't been paid for 5 months
www.uscourts.gov/data-news/ju...
November 6, 2025 at 1:31 PM
This is more than the shutdown - the fedrral courts ran out of money to pay defense attorneys in JULY.
Congress continues to underfund the Constitutional requirement that poor people get a defense lawyer - the CJA attorneys haven't been paid for 5 months
www.uscourts.gov/data-news/ju...
Congress continues to underfund the Constitutional requirement that poor people get a defense lawyer - the CJA attorneys haven't been paid for 5 months
www.uscourts.gov/data-news/ju...
This was a month ago. And of course, a shutdown occurred. CJA attorneys haven't been paid since July 3, 2025.
After oral arguments, the Fourth Circuit routinely thanks attorneys who take cases by court appointment. Today, after a case with one FPD and three CJA attorneys, Chief Judge Diaz spent several minutes discussing the Judiciary's dire budget situation (at 1:29:50).
www.youtube.com/live/jsoE-rF...
www.youtube.com/live/jsoE-rF...
University of Richmond Law School - Fourth Circuit Court Oral Arguments
YouTube video by United States Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit
www.youtube.com
October 27, 2025 at 3:04 PM
This was a month ago. And of course, a shutdown occurred. CJA attorneys haven't been paid since July 3, 2025.
Reposted by Renae Summers
They have to do it out of district, which is why Nachmanoff isn't going to decide. FYI.
JUST IN: Judge Cameron Currie, a Clinton appointee, will decide whether Lindsey Halligan is disqualified as interim U.S. attorney, following a motion brought by James Comey. storage.courtlistener.com/recap/gov.us...
October 21, 2025 at 7:59 PM
They have to do it out of district, which is why Nachmanoff isn't going to decide. FYI.
Reposted by Renae Summers
Unmentioned: Liberty's last champions, the brilliant public defender service of DC, filing the motions & planning the strategies that are giving DC jurors and judges an opportunity to reject bogus charges.
If you like freedom, Fund Public Defense
www.washingtonpost.com/dc-md-va/202...
If you like freedom, Fund Public Defense
www.washingtonpost.com/dc-md-va/202...
D.C. judges and grand jurors push back on Trump policing surge
A federal magistrate judge said one arrest in D.C. was preceded by the “most illegal search I’ve seen in my life” and another lacked “basic human dignity.”
www.washingtonpost.com
August 27, 2025 at 1:11 PM
Unmentioned: Liberty's last champions, the brilliant public defender service of DC, filing the motions & planning the strategies that are giving DC jurors and judges an opportunity to reject bogus charges.
If you like freedom, Fund Public Defense
www.washingtonpost.com/dc-md-va/202...
If you like freedom, Fund Public Defense
www.washingtonpost.com/dc-md-va/202...
Reposted by Renae Summers
Today, I spoke w/Renae Alt-Summers & Mekka Jeffers-Nelson, private criminal defense lawyers who take federal public defender cases. They explained why CJA Attorneys haven't been paid since July and the crisis in federal public defense if Congress doesnt act soon.
open.spotify.com/episode/6SMz...
open.spotify.com/episode/6SMz...
August 23, 2025 at 12:57 AM
Today, I spoke w/Renae Alt-Summers & Mekka Jeffers-Nelson, private criminal defense lawyers who take federal public defender cases. They explained why CJA Attorneys haven't been paid since July and the crisis in federal public defense if Congress doesnt act soon.
open.spotify.com/episode/6SMz...
open.spotify.com/episode/6SMz...
CJA attorney payments have been stopped since July 3rd when the money ran out. I got to appear on the Public Defenseless Podcast this week to discuss the implications for CJA attorneys & clients.
Here are the links to the show
open.spotify.com/episode/6SMz...
podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/3...
Here are the links to the show
open.spotify.com/episode/6SMz...
podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/3...
386 | Why Have the Private Defense Lawyers who Take 40% of Federal Public Defense Cases Stopped Getting Paid? w/Renae Alt-Summers and Mekka Jeffers-Nelson
open.spotify.com
August 23, 2025 at 12:38 AM
CJA attorney payments have been stopped since July 3rd when the money ran out. I got to appear on the Public Defenseless Podcast this week to discuss the implications for CJA attorneys & clients.
Here are the links to the show
open.spotify.com/episode/6SMz...
podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/3...
Here are the links to the show
open.spotify.com/episode/6SMz...
podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/3...
Reposted by Renae Summers
It’s a disgrace that Massachusetts pays criminal defense attorneys $65 per hour when New Hampshire pays twice that much. Our state cannot claim to be serious about equal justice unless it rectify this injustice.
www.bostonglobe.com/2025/07/24/o...
www.bostonglobe.com/2025/07/24/o...
I was a bar advocate for 27 years. Here’s why I had to quit. - The Boston Globe
I can say with certainty: Justice isn’t just blind — it’s also broken.
www.bostonglobe.com
July 25, 2025 at 2:21 PM
It’s a disgrace that Massachusetts pays criminal defense attorneys $65 per hour when New Hampshire pays twice that much. Our state cannot claim to be serious about equal justice unless it rectify this injustice.
www.bostonglobe.com/2025/07/24/o...
www.bostonglobe.com/2025/07/24/o...
Yes, it is a crisis. www.msn.com/en-us/news/c...
MSN
www.msn.com
July 24, 2025 at 2:11 PM
Yes, it is a crisis. www.msn.com/en-us/news/c...
www.charlotteobserver.com/news/local/c... Private federal criminal defense attorneys (CJA attorneys) aren't getting paid for work completed until October 1, 2025 unless Congress approves a supplemental budget request.
With no money to pay defense lawyers, alarms sound in NC federal courts
With their pay shorted by Congress, federal defense lawyers edge toward a difficult decision: Do I pay my light bill, or do I go see my client?
www.charlotteobserver.com
July 23, 2025 at 4:20 PM
www.charlotteobserver.com/news/local/c... Private federal criminal defense attorneys (CJA attorneys) aren't getting paid for work completed until October 1, 2025 unless Congress approves a supplemental budget request.
Reposted by Renae Summers
"There are 73 lawyers on the Albuquerque division of the CJA panel in New Mexico, and 29 private attorneys who are on the CJA panel’s Las Cruces division" who have been told by the federal judicary they now have to pay for their own translators & they won't be paid for their legal services
Private attorneys representing people who otherwise can’t afford a legal defense in federal courts in New Mexico are working for free because the public program that pays them — and private federal defenders across the country — ran out of money at the start of July.
Some New Mexico attorneys stop taking public defense work due to ‘funding crisis’ • Source New Mexico
Attorneys say funding crisis is urgent in Southern NM because of the high volume of cases prosecuted as part of Trump’s immigration agenda.
sourcenm.com
July 17, 2025 at 6:37 PM
"There are 73 lawyers on the Albuquerque division of the CJA panel in New Mexico, and 29 private attorneys who are on the CJA panel’s Las Cruces division" who have been told by the federal judicary they now have to pay for their own translators & they won't be paid for their legal services
www.uscourts.gov/data-news/ju... When the federal government can't pay CJA attorneys for work already completed, but we can't leave our clients in a lurch. Working without pay.
Funding Crisis Leaves Defense Lawyers Working Without Pay
The program that pays court-appointed private attorneys to represent indigent federal criminal defendants has run out of money, starting the clock on a painful three-month delay in paying these attorn...
www.uscourts.gov
July 15, 2025 at 3:56 PM
www.uscourts.gov/data-news/ju... When the federal government can't pay CJA attorneys for work already completed, but we can't leave our clients in a lurch. Working without pay.
Reposted by Renae Summers
The Supreme Court’s “shadow docket” has cast very different shadows depending on which party holds the White House.
When lower courts blocked Trump admin policies, SCOTUS intervened on an emergency basis to lift those orders in 77% of cases.
For the Biden administration, that number was 0%.
When lower courts blocked Trump admin policies, SCOTUS intervened on an emergency basis to lift those orders in 77% of cases.
For the Biden administration, that number was 0%.
July 9, 2025 at 6:13 PM
The Supreme Court’s “shadow docket” has cast very different shadows depending on which party holds the White House.
When lower courts blocked Trump admin policies, SCOTUS intervened on an emergency basis to lift those orders in 77% of cases.
For the Biden administration, that number was 0%.
When lower courts blocked Trump admin policies, SCOTUS intervened on an emergency basis to lift those orders in 77% of cases.
For the Biden administration, that number was 0%.
The funds ran out on July 3rd.
One criminal defense lawyer is taking out a loan. Another will be paying her law student intern out of pocket and “putting everything on credit cards.”
My latest on CJA panel attorneys bracing to foot the bill this summer after judiciary funds expire: news.bloomberglaw.com/us-law-week/...
My latest on CJA panel attorneys bracing to foot the bill this summer after judiciary funds expire: news.bloomberglaw.com/us-law-week/...
Defense Lawyers Face Months Without Pay as Federal Funds Dry Up
One Kansas City-based criminal defense lawyer is taking out a loan to sustain operations this summer, as she prepares for more than two months without pay once the federal defenders’ budget runs out. ...
news.bloomberglaw.com
July 8, 2025 at 9:23 PM
The funds ran out on July 3rd.
The funds ran out July 3rd. That means payments for work already done are deferred until at least October 1, 2025. And yet, we keep working.
🚨 Heads up: Private attorneys who represent indigent clients in federal cases under the CJA are facing a serious pay freeze, starting in July. This impacts the dedicated lawyers ensuring fair legal representation for those who cannot afford it.
🔗 wapo.st/43enqHp (Gift link for free access!)
🔗 wapo.st/43enqHp (Gift link for free access!)
These attorneys defend clients in need. Their pay is being frozen for months.
Lawyers and judges have expressed concerns about a pay freeze for attorneys representing indigent clients nationwide.
wapo.st
July 8, 2025 at 9:22 PM
The funds ran out July 3rd. That means payments for work already done are deferred until at least October 1, 2025. And yet, we keep working.
A Surprise Target of Trump’s Cutbacks Is Devastating One Specific Population - Slate
July 6, 2025 at 12:46 AM
A Surprise Target of Trump’s Cutbacks Is Devastating One Specific Population - Slate
Reposted by Renae Summers
One criminal defense lawyer is taking out a loan. Another will be paying her law student intern out of pocket and “putting everything on credit cards.”
My latest on CJA panel attorneys bracing to foot the bill this summer after judiciary funds expire: news.bloomberglaw.com/us-law-week/...
My latest on CJA panel attorneys bracing to foot the bill this summer after judiciary funds expire: news.bloomberglaw.com/us-law-week/...
Defense Lawyers Face Months Without Pay as Federal Funds Dry Up
One Kansas City-based criminal defense lawyer is taking out a loan to sustain operations this summer, as she prepares for more than two months without pay once the federal defenders’ budget runs out. ...
news.bloomberglaw.com
June 2, 2025 at 3:13 PM
One criminal defense lawyer is taking out a loan. Another will be paying her law student intern out of pocket and “putting everything on credit cards.”
My latest on CJA panel attorneys bracing to foot the bill this summer after judiciary funds expire: news.bloomberglaw.com/us-law-week/...
My latest on CJA panel attorneys bracing to foot the bill this summer after judiciary funds expire: news.bloomberglaw.com/us-law-week/...
Reposted by Renae Summers
Find a protest near you
The single most important act of defiance today is visible protest.
Show your neighbors and the world we're not going to sit around and just watch our democracy be dismantled.
Do something.
Join the resistance
Stand up and march
www.mobilize.us/indivisible/
The single most important act of defiance today is visible protest.
Show your neighbors and the world we're not going to sit around and just watch our democracy be dismantled.
Do something.
Join the resistance
Stand up and march
www.mobilize.us/indivisible/
Indivisible National · Indivisible on Mobilize
We’re a grassroots movement of thousands of local Indivisible groups with a mission to elect progressive leaders, rebuild our democracy, and defeat the Trump agenda.
www.mobilize.us
February 17, 2025 at 1:27 PM
Find a protest near you
The single most important act of defiance today is visible protest.
Show your neighbors and the world we're not going to sit around and just watch our democracy be dismantled.
Do something.
Join the resistance
Stand up and march
www.mobilize.us/indivisible/
The single most important act of defiance today is visible protest.
Show your neighbors and the world we're not going to sit around and just watch our democracy be dismantled.
Do something.
Join the resistance
Stand up and march
www.mobilize.us/indivisible/
Reposted by Renae Summers
ICE conducts Goose Creek operation, police say they were not informed www.live5news.com/2025/01/31/i...
ICE conducts Goose Creek operation, police say they were not informed
A Lowcountry neighborhood woke up Friday morning to United States Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents serving warrants in the area.
www.live5news.com
January 31, 2025 at 6:20 PM
ICE conducts Goose Creek operation, police say they were not informed www.live5news.com/2025/01/31/i...