Final answer:
Increased legal funding can lead to better availability of competent public defenders and reduced caseloads, improving access to quality legal representation in alignment with the right to counsel established by Gideon v. Wainwright.
Step-by-step explanation:
Access to legal representation would improve with increased legal funding in a couple of significant ways:
- Increase the availability of competent public defenders, mitigating the imbalance caused by defendants being unable to afford private counsel.
- Reduce the caseload on public defenders, enabling them to dedicate more time and resources to each case, increasing the quality of legal defense.
Increased legal funding helps ensure that justice is served fairly and equitably, aligning with the principles laid out in cases like Gideon v. Wainwright, which extended the right to legal representation in cases where the accused face the possibility of loss of liberty.