Pleading the Sixth: More than 74% of all misdemeanor defendants in Potter County, Texas (Amarillo) face the possibility of jail time without the aid of a lawyer, due to sheriff’s deputies, county prosecutors, and trial court judges exerting direct, overt…
Pleading the Sixth: On October 24, 2016, the Sixth Amendment Center released its report detailing how the “Indiana Model” for defender services leads to the actual denial of counsel and/or the provision of a lawyer in name only throughout the state.…
Pleading the Sixth: In an effort to meet the American Bar Association’s Ten Principles, judges in Travis County, Texas (Austin) created a plan to remove themselves from the oversight and administration of public defense services. Will the proposed “managed assigned…
Pleading the Sixth: Williamson County, Texas settled a class action lawsuit alleging that judges engaged in a “systematic and deliberate scheme” to deprive “persons accused of misdemeanor offenses of their right to be represented by counsel.” By agreeing to set…
Pleading the Sixth: Two new independent reports out of Texas conclude that the public defender model provides better, more cost-efficient representation than the assigned counsel model. In a companion piece, a 2011 U.S. Department of Justice report makes the same argument.…
Pleading the Sixth: A 2011 report by the United States Department of Justice, Bureau of Justice Statistics concludes that the public defender model provides better, more cost-efficient representation than the assigned counsel model. In a companion piece, the same argument…
