The Oregon Supreme Court has ruled that the state must drop more than 1,400 pending criminal cases due to a critical shortage of public defenders. The court’s decision, announced on a Thursday, requires judges to dismiss a case if the state cannot provide a lawyer within 60 days for a minor crime (misdemeanor) or 90 days for a serious crime (felony). These cases are dismissed "without prejudice," which means prosecutors can file the charges again once an attorney becomes available. This ruling stems from a case involving a man named Allen Rex Roberts, whose charges were dismissed and filed again several times while he waited for a lawyer.