Pleading the Sixth: In America, the indigent accused has a constitutional right to be represented by an effective lawyer at all critical stages of a case where loss of liberty is a potential penalty. But what if that lawyer is…
Tag: history
Nevada Chief Justice: “We must do better at providing representation to rural defendants.”
Pleading the Sixth: In his State of the Judiciary address, Nevada’s Chief Justice decried the growing justice gap in right to counsel services between urban and rural jurisdictions in his state. Announcing that rural counties simply cannot shoulder the state’s…
Tagged with: caseloads & workloads, commissions, funding, history, judiciary, legislation, Nevada, rural areas, Shepherd L. Wixom, video
A reason for optimism for the right to counsel in Utah and lessons for achieving the best paradigm of justice everywhere
Pleading the Sixth: In these days of political strife and partisan antagonism, it is encouraging to see that government can still work and reach consensus for the benefit of the people, as demonstrated by the near unanimous passage of a…
Defense leader uses the world stage to expose Congress’ failure to stem America’s indigent defense crisis
Pleading the Sixth: A keynote address by the director of the New York State Office of Indigent Legal Services at The Hague on April 5, 2014, served as an indictment of the right to counsel in America and of the…
Idaho Chief Justice calls for the eradication of flat fee contracts
Pleading the Sixth: On August 15, 2013, the Chief Justice of Idaho addressed a legislative committee charged with studying the need for state involvement in the oversight and administration of right to counsel services. Calling for the eradication of flat…
Right to counsel advocates mourn the passing of Anthony Lewis
Pleading the Sixth: On March 25, 2013 the indigent defense community lost one of its heroes. Anthony Lewis, the author of Gideon’s Trumpet, passed away at his home in Cambridge, Massachusetts at the age of 85.
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