Mississippi’s “dead zone” highlights the urgent need for state-level reforms

Mississippi’s “dead zone” highlights the urgent need for state-level reforms

Pleading the Sixth: Mississippi regularly denies felony defendants the right to counsel during the critical stage between arrest or preliminary hearing and arraignment following grand jury indictment. This practice is pervasive, resulting from systemic neglect of indigent defense at the state level. Until Mississippi provides state-level oversight to guarantee…