District of Columbia
The U.S. federal government funds and administers indigent defense services in the District of Columbia (as opposed to the D.C. Council). A commission provides limited oversight of indigent defense within the District.
The Congressionally funded nonprofit Public Defender Service for the District of Columbia (PDS) provides direct services to indigent defendants in the most serious adult criminal matters and juvenile delinquency cases in the D.C. courts. For less serious criminal matters, and where PDS has a conflict, judges appoint private attorneys paid on an hourly basis. The U.S. Congress funds the private attorney panel through the Criminal Justice Act (CJA). Courts may also appoint qualified law students participating in clinical programs or pro bono attorneys.
A nonprofit board, composed of 11 members appointed by diverse authorities, oversees PDS. The board appoints the PDS director. The Joint Committee on Judicial Administration, the policy-making body for the D.C. courts composed of five D.C. court judges, oversees the CJA panel. There is no governmental entity with oversight of court-appointed law students and pro bono attorneys.
Dig Deeper
Who appoints the Public Defender Service for the District of Columbia (PDS) board members?
Who serves on the Joint Committee on Judicial Administration?
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.