Pleading the Sixth: Maine is the only state in the country that provides all indigent defense services through private attorneys. There are two principal reasons that other states have moved away from using solely private attorneys. First, it is difficult to…
Pleading the Sixth: Oregon stands as a cautionary tale regarding indigent defense reform. Often extolled (including by this author) as a working model that provides effective public defense services through a statewide system of contracts, a new comprehensive evaluation by…
Pleading the Sixth: In January 2011, then-Chief Justice Myron Steele sought to end Delaware’s undue judicial interference in the state’s conflict indigent defense services by transferring responsibility for the administration of the conflict panel from the court to the Office…
