Category Archives: Criminal Law

National Coalition on Civil Right to Counsel Listing of Gideon Events

Posted on March 19, 2013 by

The National Counsel on Civil Right to Counsel has put up a nice website on the events organized around the Gideon anniversary. Upcoming events include those in San Fransciso, DC, Durham NC, and Boston (Harvard – I will be speaking). … Continue reading →

Posted in Access to Counsel, Criminal Law, Defender Programs | Leave a comment

Memories of a Mentor, and Honoring a Prosecutor

Posted on March 18, 2013 by

On the 50th anniversary of Gideon v. Wainright, I keep thinking about one of my mentors, Brownlow (Browny) Speer, who died a few weeks ago. Browny was Chief Appellate Attorney of first the Massachusetts Defenders Committee, and then its successor, … Continue reading →

Posted in Access to Justice Generally, Criminal Law, Legal Ethics, Public Defender, Vocation | Leave a comment

Thoughts After the Gideon Fifty Year Anniversay Gathering at DOJ

Posted on March 16, 2013 by

I was privileged to be invited to be at the gathering yesterday at the Dept of Justice to mark the 50th anniversay of Gideon v. Wainright.  The gathering was organized by the Access to Justice Initiative of DOJ.  Among those … Continue reading →

Posted in Access to Justice Generally, Criminal Law, Defender Programs, Dept. of Justice, Supreme Court | Leave a comment

Will Hornsby Reports on Year’s Key Events

Posted on June 4, 2012 by

Each year, Will Hornsby, as staffer for the ABA Standing Committee on the Delivery of Legal Services, puts out a summary of key events.  It is all worth a read, but particularly useful is this summary of rule and ethics … Continue reading →

Posted in Criminal Law, Legal Ethics, Unbundling | Tagged | 3 Comments

RAND Randomized Study of Murder Representation Shows Much Better Outcomes for Salaried Defenders Than Assigned Counsel

Posted on December 27, 2011 by

A newly released report from RAND, summarized in a NYT editorial, reports radically better outcomes for public defender represented murder defendants that those assigned to a private lawyer. The Philadelphia study was randomized, removing most of the likely methodological objections.  … Continue reading →

Posted in Access to Counsel, Criminal Law, Mixed Model, Research and Evalation | Leave a comment

Very Important and Promising Leaderhip Appointment at Open Society Foundations

Posted on December 7, 2011 by

The Open Society Foundations has announced its new head: Chris Stone.  While OSF and Chris will surely have an agenda that goes way beyond access to justice, it is promising that the Institute, vast in its international reach, will be … Continue reading →

Posted in Criminal Law, Funding, International Models, Research and Evalation, Systematic Change | Tagged | Leave a comment

Bi-Partisan Support for Senencing Reform and Re-Entry Programs

Posted on August 13, 2011 by

The ACLU as a nice report out, highlighting how even the more conservative states are embracing sentencing reform as a way of saving money on incarceration.  It highlights reforms in Texas, Mississippi, Kansas, South Carolina, Kentucky, and Ohio. The NYT … Continue reading →

Posted in Budget Issues, Criminal Law | Tagged | Leave a comment

Public Defender Versus Assigned Counsel, Implications for Mixed Model Advocacy

Posted on August 1, 2011 by

Thomas Cohen, at the NIJ Bureau of Justice Statistics, has published an interesting study on who is most effective at criminal defense. Bottom line, from the abstract: Specifically, this paper examines whether there are differences between defense counsel type and … Continue reading →

Posted in Criminal Law, Metrics, Mixed Model, Research and Evalation, Systematic Change | 1 Comment

Defender Services for Arrested Defendants — US and UK Comparison

Posted on June 27, 2011 by

As part of the UK governing coalition’s attempt to cut the UK legal aid budget by 350 million pounds (about US$500 million), the possibility is being raised of introducing means testing of the provision of the currently universally available solicitors … Continue reading →

Posted in Access to Counsel, Criminal Law, International Models | Leave a comment

Recidivism Versus Redemption: Risk of Re-Arrest Falls Over Time, To Less Than in Overall General Population

Posted on April 29, 2011 by

Obviously, risk of rearrest is a huge issue in terms of the steps that are considered appropriate to keep those with criminal records integrated into society.  NTY has a piece on the relative lack of rationality of many of the … Continue reading →

Posted in Criminal Law, Research and Evalation, Self-Help Services | Tagged | Leave a comment