Public defender (United States)

The Sixth Amendment reads:In all criminal prosecutions, the accused shall enjoy the right to a speedy and public trial, by an impartial jury of the state and district wherein the crime shall have been committed, which district shall have been previously ascertained by law, and to be informed of the nature and cause of the accusation; to be confronted with the witnesses against him; to have compulsory process for obtaining witnesses in his favor, and to have the assistance of counsel for his defense.

[7] The day of their trial, the "Scottsboro Boys" were not appointed counsel by the judge and were instead represented by two unqualified people: a real estate agent from Tennessee and an old attorney who had not practiced law in many years.

[8] Every "Scottsboro Boy", except for one, was sentenced to death despite the fact the doctors who checked the two young women did not find any proof of rape.

In 1961, a burglary occurred in a poolroom in Florida and a man named Clarence Earl Gideon was arrested by the police on the basis of an eyewitness's testimony.

[15] Florida's system was brought about by the previous Supreme Court Case Betts v. Brady, which allowed states to decide on their own when to offer indigent defense.

[15] Justice Black, the writer of the Court's opinion, stated: Even the intelligent and educated layman has small and sometimes no skill in the science of law.

[15]Justice Black, in keeping with the Court’s decision in Powell v. Alabama, opined that the guiding hand of counsel can prevent an innocent man from being imprisoned falsely.

[16] The Supreme Court case Strickland v. Washington changed the way people interpret the Sixth Amendment by stating that the legal counsel provided to defendants should be reasonably effective.

Following the landmark 1963 decision, the 1960s witnessed the creation of programs across the country to make this right to counsel available to most people charged with crimes who could not afford an attorney to represent them.

[19] Foltz was also inspired by the people she represented in court such as Charles Colby who lamented over spending all that he owned on ineffective legal counsel.

[20] One memorable quote from her speech at the Chicago World fair was: For the conviction of the accused every weapon is provided and used, even those poisoned by wrong and injustice.

The general trend is for larger metropolitan county governments to set up a government agency under an official with the title of public defender who hires full-time staff attorneys on regular salaries, while smaller suburban and rural counties continue to rely on the traditional system of appointing attorneys in private practice to satisfy their constitutional obligations under Gideon.

Before major reforms were enacted in 2022, Maine was the last state with no public defenders whatsoever, in the strict sense of a government official with that title.

In addition to clerical staff, defender offices may employ investigators, social workers, and forensic experts, such as psychologists.

These human resources may help defenders provide more professional service than an appointed lawyer without this type of staff or funds to employ them.

[citation needed] In jurisdictions where indigent defense is handled on the basis of contracts or ad-hoc appointments, there has been increasing concern about the low pay and minimal resources given to public defenders.

However, they perform administrative and budgetary duties as only the circuit courts of appeals of the United States are in charge of appointing their respective Federal Defenders, who in turn hire lawyers and support staff and manage the office.

[citation needed] The Office of the Federal Public Defender operates under authority of the Criminal Justice Act of 1964 (CJA),18 U.S.C.

It provides defense services in federal criminal cases to individuals who are financially unable to obtain adequate representation.

Those accused who are found to be indigent in jurisdictions without a Federal or Community Defender, and those for whom there is a conflict or those charged at a time the Defender in their jurisdiction is short staffed or has a full caseload, will be appointed private counsel who are paid an hourly rate from an approved list of qualified lawyers who have the requisite experience to handle a federal criminal case.

Some jurisdictions, like in Los Angeles County, employ a separate entity for legal representation called the Alternate Public Defender's office.

But the Supreme Court has held that there is no right to representation for discretionary appeals[34] or post-conviction collateral attacks like habeas corpus and coram nobis.

[a][36][37]) Upon review of the trial court record, an appellate public defender may conclude there are no reasonable or valid grounds for an appeal.

[19] In fact, this controversy dates back to 1897: The New-York Tribune found it "a ridiculous thing for the State to prosecute with one hand and defend with the other the violation of its own statutes".

[39] The public defenders, especially the State appointed ones, have to deal with numerous issues with respect to excessive caseloads and low salaries.

According to a study by the Bureau of Justice Statistics, 73% of the county offices in the United States went over the recommended maximum limit of cases.

[42] In Missouri, a study reported that the state required 270 more public defenders just to represent the indigent at a barely acceptable manner.

Ethical issues in these terms have become so problematic that the United States Department of Justice was forced to research on constitutional violations in representation.

[19] In fact, Harvard Law School's Guide for Careers in Indigent Defense, emphasizes the importance of having to get over the emotion and frustration of having to defend the guilty.

Disagreement in the federal appellate courts has arisen over the issue of whether a defendant's sentence may be increased because they lied in order to become eligible for a court-appointed attorney.