Court Cases
Indigent Defense Reform
DeWolfe v. Richmond (Amicus Brief)
The Brennan Center participated as a friend of the court in an important right to counsel case pending before Maryland’s highest court, which will determine how early in a criminal case counsel must be provided to a low-income person facing criminal charges.
– 09/21/11
Duncan et al. v. State of Michigan (Amicus Brief)
The Brennan Center, along with the National Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers, the NAACP Legal Defense & Educational Fund, and the Constitution Project, filed an amicus brief in a case before the Michigan Supreme Court case that seeks to address the constitutional insufficiency of the state's indigent defense system.
– 08/11/10
Hurrell-Harring, et al. v. State of New York (Amicus Brief)
The Brennan Center co-authored an amicus brief signed by 62 former prosecutors in support of a suit that challenges New York's indigent defense system.
– 05/06/10
Montejo v. Louisiana (Amicus Brief)
This case tests the ambit of the protection afforded by the Sixth Amendment of right to counsel.
– 04/14/09
Rothgery v. Gillespie County, Texas (Amicus Brief)
In this case, the Court holds that the right to counsel under the 6th Amendment exists when the charges are first presented against the defendant in a court of law, even if a prosecutor is not yet involved in that specific proceeding.
– 06/23/08
HUD and Oakland Housing Authority v. Pearlie Rucker (Amicus Brief)
In 1999, the Brennan Center filed an amicus brief on the behalf of four elderly tenants against whom the Oakland Housing Authority filed detainer actions for alleged violations of the “drug-related criminal activity” provisions of their leases.
– 03/12/99