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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May 23, 2018
Oregon Advisory Committee Salem, Oregon
Executive Director David Carroll and Deputy Director Jon Mosher present the preliminary findings from 6AC’s evaluation of public defense services provided by the Public Defense Services Commission and the Office of Public Defense Services in Oregon’s trial level state courts.
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April 20, 2018
Indiana Task Force on Public Defense Indianapolis, Indiana
Executive Director David Carroll discusses various ways that states have enforced indigent defense standards. Also providing information to the Task Force are: William Leahy, Director of the New York State Office of Indigent Legal Services; and the Honorable Thomas Boyd, District Court Judge for Michigan’s 55th Judicial District in Ingham County (Lansing) and member of the Michigan Indigent Defense Commission.
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April 19, 2018
Michigan Indigent Defense Commission and Wayne County Commission Detroit, Michigan
Executive Director David Carroll presents the findings from the 6AC’s evaluation of the public defender office in Wayne County (Detroit), Michigan.
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April 10, 2018
Mississippi Public Defender Task Force Jackson, Mississippi
Executive Director David Carroll discusses how best to overcome the systemic deficiencies identified in the 6AC’s statewide evaluation of Mississippi’s adult felony trial level indigent defense services.
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March 29, 2018
Nevada Right to Counsel Commission Carson City, Nevada
Executive Director David Carroll presents an update on the status of the 6AC’s assessment of adult indigent defense services in rural Nevada.
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March 26, 2018
Pennsylvania Legislature, Joint Hearing of the Senate Appropriations Subcommittee on Public Safety and Senate Judiciary Committee Harrisburg, Pennsylvania
At the invitation of Senator Stewart Greenleaf, Chair of the Senate Judiciary Committee, 6AC Executive Director David Carroll testifies at a joint hearing of the Senate Appropriations Subcommittee on Public Safety and Judiciary Committee regarding funding of indigent defense representation, as the Senators consider a wide array of criminal justice reform issues.
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February 15, 2018
Indiana University – Perdue University Fort Wayne, Indiana
Executive Director David Carroll joins a panel discussion of Indiana’s statewide systemic deficiencies in providing right to counsel services. The discussion is moderated by Rebecca Green of WBOI public radio. Other panelists are Allen County Superior Court Judge Fran Gull, Allen County Deputy Prosecutor Mike McAlexander, and Indiana Public Defender Council Executive Director Larry Landis. The conversation is broadcast on WBOI radio and CollegeTV.
December 8, 2017
National Legal Aid & Defender Association, 2017 Annual Conference Washington, D.C.
Executive Director David Carroll discusses the technical assistance and training available through the U.S. Department of Justice, Bureau of Justice Assistance, in the panel presentation “Looking Back and Moving Forward: Stories and Action Steps from Federally Funded TTA Providers.” Joining him in the presentation are Priya Sarathy-Jones (BJA), Marea Beeman (NLADA’s Director of Research Initiatives), Jon Rapping (Founder/President of Gideon’s Promise), and Lisa Vavonese (Center for Court Innovation’s Deputy Director for Update Office and Peacemaking Coordinator).
November 2, 2017
U.S. Department of Justice, Bureau of Justice Assistance, Right to Counsel National Campaign Washington, D.C.
Executive Director David Carroll interviews Tennessee Supreme Court Chief Justice Jeffrey Bivins about the court’s support for legislation to improve the provision of counsel to indigent defendants in Tennessee, including by creating a statewide oversight commission and state appellate defender office, and by increasing the compensation paid to the private attorneys appointed to represent the poor. Speakers at this National Consortium include Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein.
October 27, 2017
Oregon Public Defense Management Seminar Newport, Oregon
Executive Director David Carroll speaks about supervision and quality control in systems that use contracts to provide representation to indigent defendants, at the annual seminar sponsored by the Oregon Public Defense Services Commission and the Oregon Criminal Defense Lawyers’ Association. He also addresses a meeting of the statewide Public Defender Services Commission to explain the current state of the Sixth Amendment right to counsel in America.
August 11, 2017
Indiana Public Media, WFIU Radio “Noon Edition” live discussion Bloomington, Indiana
Executive Director David Carroll joins Indiana Public Media Reporter Barbara Brosher, Indiana Public Defender Counsel Vice Chair David Shircliff, and Marion County Public Defender Agency Chief Counsel Ann Sutton to discuss Indiana’s failure to ensure effective representation for all people of limited means who face the potential loss of liberty in criminal or delinquency proceedings. The live radio discussion is part of Indiana Public Media’s in-depth investigation into the public defender system in Indiana, “Justice For All?” – a three-part series in print, radio, and television.
August 1, 2017
National Criminal Justice Association, National Forum on Criminal Justice Long Beach, California
Executive Director David Carroll speaks at the annual conference of the National Criminal Justice Association, a membership organization of criminal and juvenile justice stakeholders and policymakers. Joining him in a panel presentation are Maha Jweid (Acting Director, Access to Justice), Genevieve Citrin (American University, Justice Program Office), and Jack Cutrone (NCJA). In their presentation “Securing Sixth Amendment Rights,” they discuss the technical assistance and training available through the U.S. Department of Justice and the partnerships it enables.
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.
