Pleading the Sixth: The New Mexico chief public defender recently requested the state legislature for a 21% increase in funding. Ten years ago, the chief public defender was fired a week after telling lawmakers that the system was underfunded. 6AC…
Tag: funding
Michigan is ripe for another giant leap toward fulfilling its right to counsel obligations
Pleading the Sixth: A 6AC report finds Oakland County, Michigan’s indigent defense system pits assigned counsels’ financial self-interests against the legal interests of their indigent clients while excess caseloads go unchecked under a county system that lacks adequate oversight and…
Tagged with: evaluations of systems, funding, Michigan, oversight, Pleading the Sixth, standards - system, Ten Principles
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
2019 Year in Review
Season’s Greetings from the 6AC! We at 6AC are privileged to travel all across the country to meet with criminal justice stakeholders and policymakers as we aim to help them ensure an effective right to counsel. This year brought us…
Tagged with: commissions, funding, Idaho, Indiana, litigation - systemic, Maine, Massachusetts, Michigan, Missouri, Nevada, New York, North Dakota, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Sixth Amendment Center, South Carolina, Tennessee, Utah, West Virginia, Wisconsin
New report finds State of Michigan must take responsibility for deficient felony assigned counsel services in Wayne County (Detroit)
Pleading the Sixth: Forcing trial court judges to design and directly oversee the system that provides attorneys to represent indigent defendants always opens the door to the dangers of undue judicial interference with the right to counsel. This is the case…
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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