new mexico
19 Results
Blog Posts
- New Mexico’s independent state commission is a “complete game changer”
- Calm down; the New Mexico Supreme Court did not say flat-fee contracts are always constitutional
- New Mexico becomes 20th state with independent public defense commission
- New Mexico legislature begins work on public defender commission bill
- New Mexico voters to decide fate of public defender independence
- Gideon is important . . . just not for the reason you think!
- The State of the Nation on Gideon’s 60th Anniversary
- Broken Defense, a seven-part series exposes the depths of the indigent defense crisis in western states
- 2021 Year in Review
- Nevada establishes statewide right to counsel commission
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Timeline Events
- New Mexico citizens vote to pass a constitutional amendment to create a Public Defender Commission, which oversees the Law Offices of the Public Defender. This is the first state to ensure independence of the defense function in their state constitution.
- New Mexico law requires the appointment of counsel in felony cases.
- New Mexico statehood & State Constitution
- New Mexico Territory created
- Missouri Territory law requires the appointment of counsel in felony cases.
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Criminal justice issues that disproportionately harm poor people, such as wrongful convictions and over-incarceration, cannot be fixed if indigent defendants are given attorneys who do not have the time, resources, or qualifications, to be a constitutional check on government. Yet, investment in improving indigent defense services remains largely neglected. The Sixth Amendment Center is the only nonprofit organization in the country that exclusively examines, uncovers, and helps fix the root of the indigent defense crisis in which inequality is perpetuated because poor defendants do not get a fair fight.
The Sixth Amendment Center is a tax-exempt 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization under EIN: 45-3477185.
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