Editorial: Oregon's public defense system need a top-to-bottom overhaulOregon has been caught in the ever-tightening grip of a public defender crisis for decades, but has failed to address the issue in any meaningful way. Oregon’s makeshift, on-the-cheap contracting system saddles it with the largest disparity in the nation between prosecutor and public defender compensation. What we need in Oregon are public defender forces of size, talent and experience commensurate with their prosecutorial counterparts, which requires commensurate compensation. She went on to establish the nation’s first in-house public defender office in Los Angeles in 1913, with San Francisco following in 1921. According to the American Bar Association, lawyers accepting public defense cases in Oregon would have to put in 26 hours a day to meet current demand.