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…
Pleading the Sixth: Remote population centers across great geographic expanses, a paucity of attorneys, limited social services, almost no public transportation, restricted tax bases, and non-lawyer judges in misdemeanor courts, are just some of the problems states often face while…
Pleading the Sixth: A public defender office handling felony representation in Detroit was flat funded for 16 years. This despite a critical national report, an ACLU lawsuit, and comprehensive statutory reform, all intended to ensure effective representation of the indigent accused…
Pleading the Sixth: Felony defendants throughout Mississippi are arrested and then routinely wait from typically two months to up to a year before a lawyer begins working on their behalf. When a felony lawyer is finally appointed, the attorney is too…
Pleading the Sixth: I am honored to have the work of the Sixth Amendment Center (6AC) featured by POLITICO and The Marshall Project. At a time when American political discourse is too much defined by opposing factions standing on soapboxes yelling…
Pleading the Sixth: On October 24, 2016, the Sixth Amendment Center released its report on trial level indigent defense services in Indiana. Beginning in the 1990s, the “Indiana Model” was widely promoted as potentially the best way to improve the provision…
