Keyword
232 Results
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The Crucible of Adversarial Testing
In Delaware, able attorneys are working in a structure that prevents them from meeting constitutional adequacy despite their commitment, dedication and hard work. Systemic impediments clear out thousands of defendants each year who should be receiving representation under the Sixth Amendment, but that are not. These defendants either face subtle (or sometimes direct) pressure to forego the right to the assistance of counsel, or unwittingly waive that right without knowing the full consequences of doing so. Where defendants have not already relented to pressure to forego the right to counsel, their lawyers are provided too late and with too little time to be the zealous advocates that each defendant has as his privilege. And as a result, Delaware’s indigent defense function fails to subject the prosecution’s case to “the crucible of meaningful adversarial testing” rendering the entire adversarial process “presumptively unreliable.”
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Reclaiming Justice
Serious problems exist today in rural Nevada when it comes to providing attorneys to poor people who face the potential loss of liberty at the hands of the criminal justice system. Produced on behalf of the Nevada Supreme Court, Reclaiming Justice demonstrates that the serious systemic deficiencies plaguing rural counties are a relatively recent development (beginning in 1975) and a turning away from Nevada’s longstanding history of ensuring equal justice to people of insufficient means. In fact, while the federal right to counsel in state court proceedings celebrates its 50th anniversary, this same right had been established in Nevada nearly 100 years before the 1963 Gideon decision. By exploring the state’s history, the 6AC offers a road map for solutions to Nevada’s present-day right to counsel problems.
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State Page: South Dakota
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State Page: Tennessee
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State Page: Texas
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State Page: Utah
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State Page: Vermont
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State Page: Virginia
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State Page: Washington
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State Page: West Virginia
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State Page: Wisconsin
Support Our Work
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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