Mr. Irving.

At 63, Mr. Irving had spent half of his life in prison and was trying to get disability benefits for his lung disease. When he was first arrested, he worked for the City of Evanston, Illinois, directly north of Chicago, and had two kids. After waiting over a month in jail to see a judge, he asked his public defender to file a motion for a speedy trial to tell the court that the police were holding him for longer than they were legally allowed to. She did not.

Part of the problem, Mr. Irving said, was that in order to get a different public defender, he would have had to notify the attorney disciplinary board and get approved for a new lawyer. Being incarcerated, the process was very difficult, and could’ve taken so much time that he could’ve gotten his freedom before he got a new attorney. He said it was as if the system was rigged against him.

“A public defender, they get paid by the state too, just like the police do ... It's kind of hard to win cases like that.”

— Arthur Irving, 63, landscaper