In the United States, the adversarial system of justice relies on ensuring a criminal defendant receives a fair trial. The sixth amendment gives defendants the right to legal representation in criminal trials even if they cannot afford one themselves. Each city and county in the United States ensures a defendant the right to counsel. There are different ways cities and counties across the United States provide representation for indigent defendants. One such approach to indigent defense is public defender programs and is a popular system used by many states today. Public defender programs have been around since the 1900’s but gained popularity throughout the years due to the many indigent defense cases. Historically, the right to counsel was only guaranteed in federal criminal court (Wice, 2005). A person charged with a crime in the state court did not have the right to legal representation. Law scholar Professor Mason Beaney explained this by saying, “only a few states guaranteed the right to appointed counsel…In most jurisdictions counsel was appointed in none but the most serious cases, often only when the crime was punishable by death” (Wice, 2005, p. 3). Many defendants, who were poor, illiterate, and uneducated had to face the justice system without legal assistance (Smith, 2004, p. 579). Los Angeles County started one of the first public defender programs in 1914, spreading slowly to other counties (Neubauer & Fradella, 2011, p. 176). By the 1960’s, less than a dozen states still refused to provide attorneys to defendants unable to afford one (Smith, 2004). There was a big change in 1963 when the landmark case Gideon v. Wainwright transformed the way state courts applied the right to counsel to indigent defend... ... middle of paper ... .... J., & Langton, L. (2010, Sep/Oct). A national assessment of public defender office caseloads []. Judicature, 94(2), 87-91. Retrieved from Neubauer, D. W., & Fradella, H. F. (2011). America’s courts and the criminal justice system (10th ed.). Belmont, CA: Wadsworth. Smith, C. E. (2004). Public defenders. In T. Hall, U.S. Legal System (pp. 567-572-). [Ebscohost]. Retrieved from http://web.ebscohost.com/ehost/ebookviewer/ebook U.S. Department of Justice. (2010). State public defender programs, 2007 (NCJ 228229). Washington, DC: U.S. Government Printing Office. Weiss, M. S. (2005). A Study of Public Defender Motivations. In Public Defenders: Pragmatic and Political Motivations to Represent the Indigent (pp. 1-10). [Ebscohost]. Retrieved from http://search.ebscohost.com/ Wice, P. B. (2005). Public Defenders and the American Justice System. Westport, CT: Praeger.
On the morning of January 8th 1962, the Supreme Court received mail from prisoner 003826 of Florida State Prison, also known as Clarence Earl Gideon. In the envelope contained a hand written letter with questionable grammar from Gideon claiming that he was denied a fair trial due to the absence of a lawyer. Gideon’s writ of certiorari was an in forma pauperis petition or pauper’s petition. Due to the fact that most paupers’ petitions are from inmates who do not have the legal means to properly file a certiorari, the Court had special methods of handling cases such as Gideon’s. Paupers’ petitions according to Justice Frankfurter were “almost unintelligible and certainly do not present a clear statement of issues necessary for our understanding”(Lewis 35). It is reasonable to assume that the Court would not spend an exorbitant amount of time going through mounds of paupers’ petitions trying to find a case that seemed presentable. Statistically, about thirteen percent of petitions for certiorari on the regular docket are paupers’ petitions. In addition, only three percent of paupers’ petitions end up being granted. Nevertheless, Gideon’s case was treated just as equally as any other in forma pauperis case. Gideon’s handwritten documents were held for a month until Florida authorities replied to petition. A month passed by and Gideon’s petition was mailed to the office of Chief Justice Earl Warren in 1962. A conference was held in June to discuss whether or not Gideon’s petition should be granted. Gideon’s case was granted three days after the conference and from that day forward Gideon’s fight for justice would ensue. In the eyes of Gideon, an attorney was a fundamental right of due process. However, his biggest ch...
An indigent man is not entitled to counsel unless he commits a capital offense. This is what the movie Gideon’s Trumpet imposes during Clarence Earl Gideon’s trial for petty larceny. The flaw in the Justice system caused an indigent man to fight for what he believed in, a fair trial. His fight changed the United States Justice System and the lives of many who were deprived of legal counsel during past and present trials.
Bender, L David, and Bruno Leone. Criminal Justice: opposing viewpoints. St. Paul, Minnesota: Greenhaven Press, 1981. Print.
people in these 21st century society wonder, “When is Justice to be done?” For district attorneys,
In this essay, I would like to reflect an article on The New York Times, ‘‘The Court Side Steps The Law, the South Caroline’s Poor Go to Jail’ ’on October 14, 2017.This article describes a man who was jailed or cited 270 times on the same charge, Trespassing without a lawyer. In America, the constitution is enshrined that you are entitled a counsel. The framer of the united states constitution has seen the of lack of liberty during the British colony and they know that unalienable rights of the citizen must be protected against the government. Thus, they had anticipated all the problems that citizen can face in their future interaction with the government and they put the six amendments in the bill of right which guarantees an accused person the right
Gaines, L.K., & Kaune, M., & Miller, R.L.(2000) Criminal Justice in Action. Belmont, CA: Wadsworth.
When I first applied for my internship at the Public Defender’s Office I had thought that the interaction among the jailers and other jail administrators would be the most relatable to the material discussed in class. Unexpectedly, I discovered that the interaction among the legal staff at the office was particularly relevant to my studies, epitomizing the interplay between the legal and public professions; all of the caveats, exceptions, and limitations that are associated with operating in the public sector melded with the intricacies and absurdities of criminal defense law. Elements of budgeting, ethics management, and personnel management were demonstrated in the office, ranging from the resignation of an attorney to the scarcity of essential office furniture and equipment. In addition to the administrative aspects of my work at the office, the opportunity to interview potential clients at the county jail helped expand my world view.
The answer should be obvious, but quite often isn't. A highly trained criminal defense attorney can offer the attention and expertise to a case that most defenders do not have the time or resources to manage. For example, recent studies have shown that public defender's offices are underfunded and that the lawyers working there are overworked with impossible caseloads. The American Bar Association recommends a prescribed number of felony and misdemeanor cases per public defender per year, yet those numbers are routinely doubled and tripled at the expense of the
Scheb, J. M., & Scheb, J. M. (2011). Criminal law and procedure. Belmont, CA: Wadsworth
“The quality of representation often matters in criminal cases, and money often is crucial in determining the quality of representation” (Chemerinsky 2680). Money does matter in criminal cases; specifically when, the public defender’s office gets less than half the yearly budget of what the district attorney’s office gets (Houppert 156). This huge discrepancy in pay is a big problem when it comes to providing a pertinent investigation: research, paying investigators, DNA testing, fingerprint samples, and spending time with clients. In Chasing Gideon, author Karen Houppert writes about Douglas Anderson, a public defender, who admitted that he did not have enough funds to hire an investigator in over 240 cases in one year (19). Furthermore, Travis Williams in the award-winning documentary Gideon’s Army, tricks the district attorney’s office in to paying for a finger print test in one of his cases because his office could not afford one. Remember-- less money equals fewer public defenders, fewer public defenders equal huge caseloads, huge caseloads equal unjust trails, unjust trials equal more constitutional violations; furthermore, a job with low pay and heavy workloads would attract incompetent people to fill those positions, because not very many other people would want the job (Chemerinsky 2683). It is easy to understand why the public defender office is working at such a disadvantage compared to the district attorney office—profit from
Cole, G. F., & Smith, C. E. (2008). Criminal Justice in America (5th ed.). : Thomson Learning.
It has been 50 years since the Gideon v. Wainwright case. From a drifter, to a petty criminal, to the Supreme Court, Gideon opened doors for the poor man in the system. Because of this case, indigent defendants have access to legal counsel (public defenders), if they prove they cannot afford an attorney on their own.
Self-representation, otherwise known as self-litigation, generally involves a defendant representing themselves as their own attorney in the court of law. “Such cautions notwithstanding, many courts have reported an appreciable increase in the number of cases filed by self-represented litigants in the past decade, especially in family law, landlord/tenant, and small-claims cases” (Goldschmidt, 2002, p.36). Many people often decide to take this course of action in hopes of avoiding costly legal fees. However, it is important to note that with self-representation there are many risks involved. For instance, this practice may be detrimental to the accused receiving a fair hearing and may also bring undue hardship to the court process itself. Furthermore,
Schmalleger, F. (2009), Prentice Hall, Publication. Criminal Justice Today: An introductory Text for the 21st century
...s And Challenges For Prosecutors." Crime, Law & Social Change 56.1 (2011): 71-89. SocINDEX with Full Text. Web. 10 Mar. 2014.