A group of criminal defense attorneys currently representing indigent federal defendants in New Mexico — without pay — is refusing to take on new cases until Congress solves the budget “crisis.”

In a letter to Chief U.S. District Judge Kenneth Gonzales of New Mexico, more than 50 lawyers, interpreters, paralegals and others who represent federal criminal defendants under the Criminal Justice Act said they will continue to work on their currently assigned cases. But they say they can’t accept new appointments from the judiciary because of the “untenable strain” caused by the lack of funding.

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