Keyword
232 Results
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Federal committee recommends independence of the defense function
Pleading the Sixth: Kept under wraps since being issued in November 2017, the report of the committee appointed by U.S. Supreme Court Chief Justice Roberts to study the provision of the Sixth Amendment right to counsel in the federal courts was released today. Foremost among its recommendations is that Congress…
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Wisconsin Supreme Court increases compensation to some, but not all, indigent defense attorneys
Pleading the Sixth: On June 27, 2018, the Supreme Court of Wisconsin ordered the compensation paid by counties to assigned counsel appointed by the courts raised from $70/hour to $100/hour beginning in January 2020, while the compensation paid by the state to private attorneys assigned by the Wisconsin State Public Defender…
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The devolution of the right to counsel in Wayne County, Michigan (Detroit)
Pleading the Sixth: A public defender office handling felony representation in Detroit was flat funded for 16 years. This despite a critical national report, an ACLU lawsuit, and comprehensive statutory reform, all intended to ensure effective representation of the indigent accused throughout Michigan. To say that this public defender office experienced…
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Withholding felony representation for months at a time in Mississippi
Pleading the Sixth: Felony defendants throughout Mississippi are arrested and then routinely wait from typically two months to up to a year before a lawyer begins working on their behalf. When a felony lawyer is finally appointed, the attorney is too often under-resourced, overworked, and financially conflicted between working on behalf…
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Missouri’s “Perfect Storm” explained
Pleading the Sixth: As if excessive caseloads, a lack of independence, inadequate funding, and low compensation were not enough of a problem for those charged with providing right to counsel services in Missouri, public defenders are now being forced into a Hobson’s choice: either provide ineffective representation and lose one’s…
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Tennessee Supreme Court backs major right to counsel reforms
Pleading the Sixth: The Tennessee Supreme Court released a press statement announcing its unanimous support for comprehensive indigent defense reforms, including the creation of a statewide indigent defense commission and a state appellate defender office, and the first increase in assigned counsel compensation rates in 20 years. Change is definitely…
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Politico & The Marshall Project profile the work of the 6AC
Pleading the Sixth: I am honored to have the work of the Sixth Amendment Center (6AC) featured by POLITICO and The Marshall Project. At a time when American political discourse is too much defined by opposing factions standing on soapboxes yelling at each other, the…
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Nevada establishes statewide right to counsel commission
Pleading the Sixth: The Nevada Governor signed into law a bill creating a statewide indigent defense commission. Following the example from Idaho’s recent reforms, the new law funds the commission to hire staff, collect data, evaluate current services, and make legislative recommendations to ensure that the state’s obligations under the 6th…
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Coalition of legal experts petitions Wisconsin Supreme Court to end financial conflicts of interest between attorneys and indigent clients
Pleading the Sixth: A coalition of legal experts petitions the Wisconsin Supreme Court to end financial conflicts of interest between private attorneys and the indigent clients they are appointed to represent. They ask the state’s high court to ban flat fee contracts and increase hourly rates for assigned counsel from…
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Will the Virgin Islands finally end the practice of conscripting non-qualified lawyers to represent the indigent accused?
Pleading the Sixth: Although the Virgin Islands has a territorial public defender office, trial court administrative rules historically authorized judges to conscript any attorney barred in the territory – divorce lawyers and real estate lawyers included – to provide representation to the indigent accused in conflict cases. The Virgin Islands…
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New York caseload standards announced and their importance to statewide reform explained
Pleading the Sixth: In early April 2017, the New York governor’s office and legislature reached a historic legislative agreement. The state of New York is already committed to pay for the systemic reforms promulgated pursuant to the settlement agreement in the NYCLU class action lawsuit in five upstate counties. Under…
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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.
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