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.…
Tag: Texas
Texas judges ask out of indigent defense oversight
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…
Williamson County TX settles “no counsel court” lawsuit
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…
New reports promote public defender model for Texas
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.…
Tagged with: assigned counsel, conflicts, DOJ, Harris County TX, public defender office, standards, Ten Principles, Texas, Wichita County TX
Are public defenders better than appointed counsel? DOJ says “yes”
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…
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