Expert Services

Deputy Director, Jon Mosher, and Program Manager, Aditi Goel present to the Illinois Supreme Court justices the findings and recommendations from The Right to Counsel in Illinois: Evaluation of Trial-level Public Defense Representation. There are two overarching reasons why the State of Illinois is defaulting on its constitutional right to counsel obligations. First, the state requires counties and courts to provide and predominantly fund indigent defense systems in a way that bakes in governmental interference with the right to counsel. Second, as one of only seven states with no state-level mechanism to oversee any aspect of trial-level right to counsel services, Illinois lacks information about every aspect of the varied indigent defense systems implemented by the county governments and courts in their efforts to fulfill the Sixth Amendment right to counsel responsibilities that the state has delegated to them.

Deputy Director Jon Mosher and Program Manager Aditi Goel present the findings and recommendations from The Right to Counsel in Illinois: Evaluation of Trial-level Public Defense Representation. There are two overarching reasons why the State of Illinois is defaulting on its constitutional right to counsel obligations. First, the state requires counties and courts to provide and predominantly fund indigent defense systems in a way that bakes in governmental interference with the right to counsel. Second, as one of only seven states with no state-level mechanism to oversee any aspect of trial-level right to counsel services, Illinois lacks information about every aspect of the varied indigent defense systems implemented by the county governments and courts in their efforts to fulfill the Sixth Amendment right to counsel responsibilities that the state has delegated to them.

Executive Director David Carroll participates to discuss on-going reform efforts in Maine, including: the creation of a statewide appellate defender office; the creation of a trial-level public defender offices in Kennebec County (Augusta); increased assigned counsel compensation rates (up from $60/hour to $80/hour); and, the need to expand staff of the Maine Commission on Indigent Legals Services to ensure adequate financial and quality representation oversight.

Executive Director David Carroll and Deputy Director Jon Mosher present “Oversight & Independence: Best Practices in the Delivery of Afghanistan’s Legal Aid Services.” The Legal Aid High Commission is housed in the Ministry of Justice and oversees all indigent defense services throughout the country. For years, the 6AC resisted operating in the international realm under the position that people from the U.S. should not purport themselves to be experts abroad unless and until we have our addressed our own domestic challenges. Now the 6AC understands that other countries can just as readily learn from our mistakes as from our best practices. “Oversight” and “independence” are the two concepts all public defense systems struggle to provide. That is, defense providers must be “independent” to act in the stated interests of their clients, but government also must provide “oversight” to ensure that those defender services are both effective and provided efficiently. The two concepts of “oversight” and “independence” are often in conflict with one another. Finding harmony between those necessary components will make your justice system better. The presentation offers examples, both good and bad, from various of the 50 states comprising the USA in hopes of assisting the Legal Aid High Commission efforts to provide effective representation.

Executive Director David Carroll participates to discuss the Maine Office of Program Evaluation and Government Accountability (OPEGA) report on the Maine Commission on Indigent Legal Services. The OPEGA report independently verified the lack of quality and financial oversight of indigent defense services in the state.

Deputy Director Jon Mosher presents to the task force formally overseeing our statewide evaluation of right to counsel services in Illinois. Mosher shares some of 6AC’s key findings from our study with examples from site work to demonstrate specific concepts. In sum, 6AC established that Illinois has two overarching deficiencies when it comes to the right to counsel: (1) government interference in the delivery of public defense services, which manifests itself in ways that can vary from county to county; and (2) the state of Illinois has no mechanism for providing oversight of right to counsel services at the county level.

Executive Director David Carroll explains how he got into public defense, America’s indigent defense deficiencies, and solutions to be implemented. Particular emphasis is made on actual denial of counsel in misdemeanor courts.

Executive Director David Carroll and Deputy Director Jon Mosher present in “Effective Defense Representation in Death Penalty Trials in the United States,” a panel exploring how death penalty public defense services are structured and funded in the United States and China. Participants include: Hongyao Wu, Professor of Law, Dean of National Institute of Legal Aid, China University of Political Science and Law; Fan Chongyi, Honorary President of the National Academy of Law, China University of Political Science and Law, and Honorary President, Professor, and Doctoral Supervisor of the Institute of litigation law of China University of Political Science and Law; Miriam Conrad, former Federal Defender for the Districts of Massachusetts, New Hampshire, and Rhode Island; and Ira Belkin, Senior Research Fellow, New York University, School of Law & China University of Political Science and Law.

Executive Director David Carroll, Deputy Director Jon Mosher, and Program Manager Aditi Goel present the findings and recommendations from The Right to Counsel in Illinois: Evaluation of Trial-level Public Defense Representation. There are two overarching reasons why the State of Illinois is defaulting on its constitutional right to counsel obligations. First, the state requires counties and courts to provide and predominantly fund indigent defense systems in a way that bakes in governmental interference with the right to counsel. Second, as one of only seven states with no state-level mechanism to oversee any aspect of trial-level right to counsel services, Illinois lacks information about every aspect of the varied indigent defense systems implemented by the county governments and courts in their efforts to fulfill the Sixth Amendment right to counsel responsibilities that the state has delegated to them.

Executive Director David Carroll participates in a panel discussion on “Is There A Role for a Public Defender in Maine?” Panelists include: Representative Thom Harnett, Maine Commission on Indigent Legal Services (MCILS) Member, Robert Cummins, MCILS Interim Director, Justin Andrus; Kennebec County District Attorney, Maeghen Maloney; and, Kennebec County Superior Court Judge, Michaela Murphy.

Executive Director David Carroll and Deputy Director, Jon Mosher, presents “Liberty v. Tyranny: The Right to Counsel in America.” The presentation discusses the history of the right to counsel in America, how states are required to implement the Sixth Amendment, the 6AC evaluation process, and why conservatives are leading the indigent defense reform movement.

Executive Director David Carroll and Senior Program Associate, Michael Tartaglia, presents “Liberty v. Tyranny: The Right to Counsel in America.” The presentation discusses the history of the right to counsel in America, the 6AC evaluation process, and concerns over how the right to counsel is delivered in Pennsylvania.