Attorneys on the public dole in Illinois aren't going to pay off their student loans anytime soon. In April, The Southern reported that the state has been more than seven months behind on issuing payments to municipalities for its share of public defenders' salaries. Earlier this month, Gov. Pat Quinn proposed deeper cuts to those reimbursements, slicing 53 percent off the line item for public defenders and 61 percent for local state's attorneys. Unless municipalities find a way to pick up the slack using their own appropriations, attorneys are going to have to work without pay or find a new employer.

Illinois' legal aid safety net is already paper-thin. At what point does the state's budget crisis officially imperil the constitutional rights of Illinois defendants?