Pleading the Sixth: Last week, Lee Enterprises published a seven-part series exposing the indigent defense crisis in the West. With data finally showing what the 6AC has known for years and has found in nearly every study – thousands of…
Tag: caseloads & workloads
Broken Defense, a seven-part series exposes the depths of the indigent defense crisis in western states
Tagged with: Actual Denial of COunsel, Arizona, California, caseloads & workloads, Colorado, funding, Idaho, independence, Montana, Nevada, North Dakota, Oregon, oversight, South Dakota, Texas, Utah, Wyoming
Judges’ removal of Champaign County public defender sets off alarms in Illinois
Pleading the Sixth: Illinois statutes authorize circuit judges to control the public defense function. In every one of Illinois’ 102 counties, except Cook (Chicago), circuit judges hire the public defender and can fire the public defender for any reason or…
New report exposes systemic deficiencies in New Hampshire’s administration and oversight of indigent defense representation
Pleading the Sixth: A new study shows that New Hampshire’s indigent defense system lacks adequate funding and structure to ensure that each indigent defendant receives constitutionally required effective assistance of counsel. The New Hampshire Judicial Council, the entity responsible for…
2021 Year in Review
By Michael Tartaglia and Kourtney Kinchen 6AC presents this year in review to acknowledge the most significant reforms to how the right to counsel is funded and delivered across the United States. We wish all our readers a happy and…
Tagged with: Alabama, Arizona, Arkansas, California, caseloads & workloads, Colorado, Connecticut, criminal justice reform, funding, Idaho, Illinois, indigency - criteria, juvenile delinquencies & status offenses, juvenile transfer hearings, Kansas, Louisiana, Maine, Maryland, Michigan, Missouri, Nebraska, Nevada, New Hampshire, New Mexico, New York, North Carolina, North Dakota, Ohio, Oregon, Texas, Virginia, Washington, Wisconsin
Assembly line pretrial representation in Delaware results in denial of right to counsel
In a decision that sounds a warning bell for public defense systems throughout the country, the Delaware Supreme Court has held that “[t]he Sixth Amendment requires more than the physical presence of counsel the first day of trial in a serious…
Oregon’s complex bureaucracy obscures just another fixed fee system
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…
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