Pleading the Sixth: The fear of government unduly taking away one’s liberty led the United States Supreme Court to unanimously declare it an “obvious truth” that no indigent person can be assured a fair trial against the “machinery” of law…
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Broken Defense, a seven-part series exposes the depths of the indigent defense crisis in western states
Pleading the Sixth: Last week, Lee Enterprises published a seven-part series exposing the indigent defense crisis in the West. With data finally showing what the 6AC has known for years and has found in nearly every study – thousands of…
2021 Year in Review
By Michael Tartaglia and Kourtney Kinchen 6AC presents this year in review to acknowledge the most significant reforms to how the right to counsel is funded and delivered across the United States. We wish all our readers a happy and…
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…
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…
Drawing the line at actual imprisonment in Scott v. Illinois
When governments legislate that certain actions are against the law, they also set a maximum punishment that the courts are allowed to dole out for a violation of each law. Say, $25 for jaywalking. Maybe $500 plus 60 days in…
