scott baly is the president of the public defenders union. >> the lawyers got together and signed thisetter, and sent it to our boss and said we can't go on like this anymore. something has to change. >> more than three dozen public defenders signed the letter saying they were jeopardizing their client's constitutional rights on a daily basis. >> the constitution doesn't guarantee a right to lawyers for just rich people. the constitution guarantees a right to effective counsel for everyone accused of a crime. unless the office is adequately funded, that guarantee has less of a meaning. we have an adversarial system of justice. you can't just fund one side and not the other. >> scott told us their efforts led to some improvements. but supervisor perea admits there is still an imbalance. >> have you requested more money from the state? is this a question of just not having enough funding? >> it's a question of not having enough funding, number 1. but number 2, is when we get the funding that it go to the priorities that quote, a collective board would have. i think right now, unless we r