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232 Results
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State Page: Louisiana
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State Page: Maine
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State Page: Maryland
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Pennsylvania is off the “no state funding” list. Is South Dakota next?
Pleading the Sixth. At the start of 2023, Pennsylvania and South Dakota were the last two states remaining to contribute no funding to indigent defense. This morning, Pennsylvania is no longer on that list. And just last week, the South Dakota Governor publicly supported increasing the state’s role in indigent…
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Virginia legislative report finds low fee caps cause problems
Pleading the Sixth: A recent legislative report in Virginia finds that the low fee caps imposed on private court-appointed attorneys result in a decline in the number of attorneys willing to take court-appointed cases and the quality of representation by those who remain. This is the third report in 20…
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Revised ABA Ten Principles: A new public defense roadmap for policymakers
Pleading the Sixth: On August 7, 2023, the American Bar Association (ABA) passed a revision of the ABA Ten Principles of a Public Defense Delivery System, giving policymakers a new roadmap for providing public defense. The Ten Principles is revised after 21 years and comes at the perfect time. Independent…
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Oregon passes sweeping indigent defense reforms
Pleading the Sixth: On July 13, 2023, Governor Tina Kotek signed sweeping legislation into law that overhauls right to counsel services in Oregon. The new law adopts many of 6AC’s recommendations from its 2019 study: it abolishes flat fee contracting in favor of a hybrid staff public defender and private…
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New Jersey abolishes public defender reimbursement fees in felony cases
Pleading the Sixth: A recent change in state law means that indigent felony defendants in New Jersey will no longer have to pay public defender reimbursement fees; and any outstanding public defender reimbursement fees, liens, or warrants are forgiven. New Jersey is the ninth state in the country to abolish…
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Strike Four, now what? ACLU sues Kern County, California for systemically denying counsel
In a lawsuit filed against Kern County last week, the ACLU alleges constitutional violations at the arraignment where probation officers offer plea deals to unrepresented defendants and encourage them to waive counsel in a process that is closed to the public. If true, Kern County would be the fourth California…
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Low attorney pay in New York: a cautionary tale for the country
Assigned attorneys in most of New York State have not received a raise since 2004, when the legislature set the compensation rate at $60 to $75 per hour. The consequence? A “crisis” in assigned counsel programs, at least three pending lawsuits, and a threat to the Sixth Amendment. Assigned attorneys…
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The State of the Nation on Gideon’s 60th Anniversary
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 enforcement without a lawyer. “The right of one charged with…
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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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