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Gideon v. Wainwright, 372 U.S. 335 (1963), was a landmark U.S. Supreme Court decision in which the Court ruled that the Sixth Amendment of the U.S. Constitution requires U.S. states to provide attorneys to criminal defendants who are unable to afford their own. The case extended the right to counsel, which had been found under the Fifth and Sixth Amendments to impose requirements on the federal government, by imposing those requirements upon the states as well.
A public defender is a lawyer appointed to represent people who otherwise cannot reasonably afford to hire a lawyer to defend themselves in a trial. Several countries provide people with public defenders, including the UK, Belgium, Hungary and Singapore, and some states of Australia. Brazil is the only country in which an office of government-paid lawyers with the specific purpose of providing full legal assistance and representation to the needy free of charge is established in the constitution. The Sixth Amendment to the US Constitution, as interpreted by the Supreme Court, requires the US government to provide legal counsel to indigent defendants in criminal cases. Public defenders in the United States are lawyers employed by or under contract with county, state or federal governments.
The United States District Court for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania is one of the original 13 federal judiciary districts created by the Judiciary Act of 1789. It originally sat in Independence Hall in Philadelphia as the United States District Court for the District of Pennsylvania, and is now located at the James Byrne Courthouse at 601 Market Street in Philadelphia. There are Eastern District federal courtrooms in Philadelphia, Lancaster, Allentown, Reading, and Easton.
Bruce Robert Jacob is a former Assistant Attorney General for the State of Florida during the early 1960s. He represented Louie L. Wainwright, the Director of the Florida Division of Corrections, in the Supreme Court case of Gideon v. Wainwright, decided in March 1963, regarding the right to counsel of indigent defendants in non-capital felony cases in state courts. The attorney representing the Petitioner, Clarence Gideon, was Abe Fortas, a Washington, D.C. lawyer who later became a Justice of the Supreme Court. The previous 1942 Supreme Court case of Betts v. Brady required the appointment of counsel for an indigent defendant at state expense if there was a “special circumstance” present in the case which made it necessary for counsel to be provided for the defendant to receive a fair trial. For example, if the defendant was indigent and was extremely young, or lacked education or experience, was unfamiliar with court procedures, or if the charges against him were complex, the trial court was required under the Due Process Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment to appoint counsel. Jacob argued against any extension of the defendant's right to counsel. The Court in Gideon overruled Betts and required state courts to appoint attorneys for defendants in all felony prosecutions.
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Pasqua v. Council, 892 A.2d 663 was a landmark family court decision decided by the Supreme Court of New Jersey in 2006. The court ruled that indigent parents facing the serious threat of incarceration for nonpayment of child support were entitled to legal counsel.
The Bronx Freedom Fund is a nonprofit bail fund located in the South Bronx. The first charitable bail organization in New York State, it provides bail assistance to indigent defendants facing pretrial detention for low-level and misdemeanor charges. It was founded by David Feige, a producer, writer, and law professor, and Robin Steinberg, the founder and chief executive of The Bronx Defenders. Its first grant came from the CEO of Lava Records, Jason Flom, and the Flom Family Foundation.
The Virginia Indigent Defense Commission (VIDC) provides legal defense to those accused of crimes unable to afford a private lawyer. VIDC operates 28 offices across the Commonwealth of Virginia. VIDC also manages the certification of public defenders and court-appointed attorneys throughout Virginia and provides training to defense attorneys.
References
- ↑ Tulsky, Fredric. "Defender Association Appoints First Woman Chief In 56 Years". Philly.com. Retrieved 8 September 2016.
- ↑ Holcomb, Henry J. (October 25, 2001). "Philadelphia's Public Defenders Get New Home; Site Free for Development". The Philadelphia Inquirer.
- ↑ McCrystal, Laura. "New chief of Defender Association of Philadelphia known for taking different approach". philly.com. Retrieved 8 September 2016.