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: independence – political interference
California’s lack of oversight adds to Santa Cruz County’s indigent defense woes
Pleading the Sixth: For decades, Santa Cruz County has delegated to private law firms, through county contracts, all decision-making about the provision of Sixth Amendment right to counsel services. The county cannot accurately say how many people or cases, and of…
DOJ recommendations for Shelby County, TN place financial burden on the county; Task Force would place responsibility on the state
Pleading the Sixth: For nearly five years, the U.S. Department of Justice has been trying to improve the representation of children in delinquency proceedings in Shelby County (Memphis), Tennessee. As the DOJ seeks to put more indigent defense funding responsibilities on…
Missouri Governor shows why indigent defense crisis will not be fixed without defender independence
Pleading the Sixth: When the Missouri Public Defender, Michael Barrett, appointed the Governor to represent an accused indigent defendant, it brought national attention to the state’s longstanding underfunding of right to counsel services. Now, after a local judge ruled Barrett…
North Carolina’s independence issue exposed
Pleading the Sixth: Not all statewide commissions are equal. For many years, the North Carolina Commission for Indigent Defense Services has been upheld as an example of how best to create a statewide public defender commission. After all, when it…
Wyoming public defender budget woes intensifying with increase in capital cases
Pleading the Sixth: The cost of providing competent death penalty representation is expensive due in no small part to the additional Sixth Amendment responsibilities placed on states by the U.S. Supreme Court. Because of this, even well-structured right to counsel…
Tagged with: death penalty cases, funding, independence, independence - political interference, Wyoming
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