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New Michigan public defense reform bill introduced
Pleading the Sixth: Is 2013 the year that Michigan finally passes substantial right to counsel reform? In a two-part series, the 6AC discusses a new indigent defense reform bill introduced in the state...
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Florida Supreme Court grants public defenders the right to declare case overload
Pleading the Sixth: On May 23, 2013, the Florida Supreme Court granted the 11th Circuit Public Defender (Miami-Dade County) the right to refuse new cases due to case overload. Importantly, the Court...
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The criminalization of poverty: a spotlight on South Dakota
Pleading the Sixth: When states make counties wholly responsible for the delivery of trial-level indigent defense services without state oversight of those services, bad things can and do happen. In...
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How an otherwise model assigned counsel compensation plan contributes to...
Pleading the Sixth: When states make counties wholly responsible for the delivery of trial-level indigent defense services without state oversight of those services, bad things can and do happen. In...
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Michigan passes public defense reform legislation
Pleading the Sixth: On June 13, 2013 the Michigan Legislature passed separate yet identical right to counsel reform bills in each chamber of the legislature. On June 19th, the Michigan Senate held a...
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Why the State of California is responsible for the public defense crisis in...
Pleading the Sixth: In late September 2013, more than 80% of the public defenders in Fresno County, California signed a letter protesting their working conditions, and in particular their excessive...
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Montana State Public Defender files motion to decline new cases
Pleading the Sixth: In September 2013, the Montana Office of the State Public Defender filed a motion seeking to decline new cases in two courts of limited jurisdiction. A hearing date set for early...
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Nevada Supreme Court issues order on early case resolution
Pleading the Sixth: A huge victory for right to counsel advocates in Nevada will most assuredly cause reverberations across the country. More than a year after the public defenders in Reno asked the...
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National Center for the Right to Counsel bill entered in U.S. House
Pleading the Sixth: On October 30, 2013, U.S. Representative Ted Deutch entered a bill to create a federally funded National Center for the Right to Counsel to aid states in meeting their...
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US DOJ investigating St. Louis family courts
Pleading the Sixth: Having reached an agreement with Shelby County, Tennessee to usher in major reforms of the county’s juvenile court system and the method for representing children in delinquency...
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Federal Court orders Washington cities to remedy willfully deficient right to...
Pleading the Sixth: A U.S. District Court found in early December that two Washington cities are responsible for the systemic deficiencies depriving the indigent accused of their constitutional right...
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State public defense commission bill entered in Idaho legislature
Pleading the Sixth: A new bill creating a statewide public defense commission was entered into the Idaho House of Representatives in early February 2014. The bill is the recommendation of a legislative...
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Delaware’s right to counsel deficiencies exposed
Pleading the Sixth: In January 2011, then-Chief Justice Myron Steele sought to end Delaware’s undue judicial interference in the state’s conflict indigent defense services by transferring...
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Closing Arguments with Dennis Keefe
“Closing Arguments” is a joint venture of the National Association for Public Defense (NAPD) and the Sixth Amendment Center (6AC). The 6AC will regularly sit down with long-time right to counsel...
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Closing Arguments with Fred Friedman
“Closing Arguments” is a joint venture of the National Association for Public Defense (NAPD) and the Sixth Amendment Center (6AC). The 6AC regularly sits down with long-time right to counsel leaders...
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Wyoming public defender budget woes intensifying with increase in capital cases
Pleading the Sixth: The cost of providing competent death penalty representation is expensive due in no small part to the additional Sixth Amendment responsibilities placed on states by the U.S....
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Idaho Governor signs public defense commission bill into law
Pleading the Sixth: Idaho became the 23rd state to create a statewide public defender commission overseeing right to counsel services when the Governor signed a reform bill into law after it...
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Defense leader uses the world stage to expose Congress’ failure to stem...
Pleading the Sixth: A keynote address by the director of the New York State Office of Indigent Legal Services at The Hague on April 5, 2014, served as an indictment of the right to counsel in America...
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Montana caseload challenge results in a significant increase in resources
Pleading the Sixth: In September 2013, the Montana Office of the State Public Defender filed a motion seeking to decline new cases in two courts of limited jurisdiction. Though the lower court found in...
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ACLU files federal 6th Amendment class action lawsuit against a Mississippi...
Pleading the Sixth: On September 23, 2014, the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) filed a complaint in U.S. District Court alleging that Scott County, Mississippi routinely detains felony defendants...
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