Expert Services
We provide technical assistance that is tailored to the unique needs and requests in each jurisdiction. This ranges from staffing government task forces, to holding confidential one-on-one meetings, to testifying before legislatures when asked. We also educate the public through speaking engagements, our Pleading the Sixth blog, and sharing what we know about the right to counsel so you can help fix the issue.
Government Technical Assistance
Speaking Engagements
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March 31, 2023
South Dakota Unified Judicial System’s Task Force to Examine the Delivery of Indigent Defense Pierre, South Dakota
Executive Director David Carroll and Senior Program Manager Aditi Goel present to the Task Force on the history of the right to counsel in America, 6AC’s evaluation methodology, and a comparison of South Dakota’s indigent system to other states.
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March 30, 2023
Oregon Legislature, Senate Judiciary Committee Salem, Oregon
Deputy Director Jon Mosher testifies at the invitation of the committee chair in a formal hearing on proposed indigent defense system reforms, including: structural independence; increased financial and qualitative oversight of direct services; and abolishing flat-fee contracting in favor of creating staff government public defender positions.
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March 28, 2023
Illinois Judicial Conference Criminal Indigent Defense Taskforce By videoconference
Deputy Director Jon Mosher and Senior Program Manager Aditi Goel present to the Task Force on 6AC’s evaluation of Illinois, public defender independence, and state accountability.
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December 20, 2022
Michigan Indigent Defense Commission Lansing, Michigan
Deputy Director Jon Mosher presents on statewide structural issues and observations from 6AC’s evaluation in Oakland County (Pontiac), and necessary state legislative and policy reforms.
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March 1, 2022
Idaho Judiciary Rules & Administration Committee Boise, Idaho – by videoconference
Executive Director David Carroll testifies during a formal hearing on Public Defender Commission Rules. Carroll speaks on the history of indigent defense reform in Idaho and the reasonableness of proposed rules at the invitation of the Committee Chair.
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February 14, 2022
Idaho Senate Judiciary Committee Boise, Idaho – by videoconference
Executive Director David Carroll testifies during a formal hearing on Public Defender Commission Rules. Carroll speaks on the history of indigent defense reform in Idaho and the reasonableness of proposed rules at the invitation of the Committee Chair.
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September 2, 2022
California Revision of the Penal Code By videoconference
Senior Program Manager Aditi Goel presents on a panel about the early appointment of counsel and observations from 6AC’s evaluation in Santa Cruz, CA. Also as panelists were Professor Paul Heaton at the Quattrone Center for the Fair Administration of Justice at UPenn Law, Office of the State Public Defender Indigent Defense Improvement Division Executive Director Galit Lipa, and Associate Judge Juliet J. McKenna of the D.C. Superior Court.
August 8, 2022
Ohio State Bar Association’s Future of Public Defense Taskforce By videoconference
Executive Director David Carroll and Senior Program Manager Aditi Goel present to the subcommittee on the history of the right to counsel in America, 6AC’s evaluation methodology, and a comparison of Ohio’s indigent system to other states, including Michigan, Massachusetts, and Mississippi.
March 2, 2022
Northwestern University Law School Chicago, Illinois – by videoconference
Program Manager Aditi Goel and Deputy Director Jon Mosher present to Northwestern University Law School, Bluhm Legal Clinic regarding potential solutions for Illinois’ right to counsel deficiencies, national models, and pitfalls to avoid.
March 2, 2022
University of Virginia School of Law Charlottesville, Virginia – by videoconference
Program Manager Aditi Goel speaks as a panelist to law students at UVA Law on the necessary role indigent defense plays in strengthening our nation’s criminal justice system, 6AC’s unique approach to reform work, and 6AC’s recent successful reform efforts. Panelists include Alison Mollman, Staff Attorney, Equal Justice Initiative.
February 15, 2022
Northwestern University Law School Chicago, Illinois – by videoconference
Program Manager Aditi Goel and Deputy Director Jon Mosher present to Northwestern University Law School, Bluhm Legal Clinic regarding 6AC’s Illinois study, findings and recommendations.
January 12, 2022
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.
Donations are tax-deductible to the fullest extent allowable under the law.
