Fifty years after the Supreme Court recognized the constitutional right to an attorney for criminal defendants, America's indigent defense system is in a state of crisis. This resource page features analysis on the unfulfilled promise of Gideon and the steps required to fix it.
Fifty years ago, the Supreme Court recognized the constitutional right to an attorney for criminal defendants who could not afford one. Today, that right is little more than an unfunded mandate. This report outlines three common sense solutions to ensure poor defendants receive effective legal counsel.
In America today, 2.3 million people are in jail or prison, 6 million if you count people on probation or out on parole. Over a quarter of our nation’s population (65 million) have a criminal record. None of this is acceptable in a civilized nation, yet it's all fixable if our leaders exercise the will to do so.
Fifty years ago today, the Supreme Court recognized the constitutional right to an attorney for criminal defendants, even when they cannot afford one. Today, however, "the sad truth is that there is no universal right to counsel."
Fifty years ago, the Supreme Court unanimously announced in Gideon v. Wainwright that the Sixth Amendment guarantees to every criminal defendant in a felony trial the right to a lawyer. Today, however, there is a vast gulf between the broad premise of the ruling and the grim practice of legal representation for the nation's poorest litigants.
