A federal judge in Oregon on Thursday ordered sheriffs across the state to release detained persons if they do not have legal representation one week after their first court appearance.

District Judge Michael McShane claimed the lack of legal representation caused defendants to be held for long periods of time "without a voice" just because they were "too poor" to afford representation and rose to the point that federal intervention was necessary.

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“In essence, they have been locked away without a voice, being too poor to afford an advocate to speak for them in the courtroom,” McShane wrote in his 32-page opinion, according to the Oregonian.

Those ordered released from jail can be placed on conditions while their cases are pending, McShane wrote. The order will go into effect on Nov. 16 and affects those currently in custody, along with those who will be arrested in the future. There are currently 135 jailed individuals in Oregon who are awaiting legal representation.

McShane said that without the help of lawyers who could walk them through the legal process, jailed defendants would not know of their rights to bail or release hearing, possible challenges to an indictment, or to seek preservation of evidence at critical proceedings.

“Worse still, they sometimes plead guilty just to be released,” the judge wrote. “Taken together, these practices highlight the need for swift appointment of counsel to ensure minimum protections for incarcerated defendants.”

The order expands on McShane's ruling in August, which ordered the release of prisoners who have been waiting in jail without representation for 10 days. That order only affected Washington County and was the result of a lawsuit brought by the Oregon Federal Public Defender’s Office over the summer.

“It’s hard not to be remarkably sympathetic to the plight of the individual petitioners who seemingly are being ignored, if not violated, by individual judges, and that part bothers me at a very deep level,” McShane said at the close of arguments in court last week.

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The defender's office also requested that the charges against the released defendants be temporarily dropped without prejudice so that the court could refile them when they have the resources to try the alleged perpetrators, but McShane declined to issue any order impacting those awaiting trial outside of jail.

There are currently an estimated 2,700 defendants out of custody in Oregon without access to legal representation, with some awaiting attorneys for as long as 269 days.