NEW YORK—Most poor people accused of crimes in the United States do not receive competent legal counsel and are therefore denied their constitutional right to a fair trial, the Open Society Institute said in a paper released today.
"Forty years after the Supreme Court guaranteed poor people the right to counsel, many state and local governments have failed to sufficiently fund indigent defense programs, leaving legal representation for the poor dreadfully inadequate," said Stephen B. Bright, author of the "Ideas" paper and director of the Southern Center for Human Rights, an OSI grantee. "Such a fragmented approach cannot deliver quality legal representation."
Bright's piece, "Equal Justice Under Law; A landmark Supreme Court decision 40 years later," featured in the latest issue of Ideas, contends that the United States still has no comprehensive system for indigent defense. His findings come on the eve of the fortieth anniversary of Gideon v. Wainwright, a landmark U.S. Supreme Court decision that established the right to a lawyer for people who cannot afford to hire one.
According to Bright, some poor people languish in jail for weeks or months, often for longer than any sentence they would receive, before being appointed a lawyer. Some obtain perfunctory representation only—nothing more than a hurried conversation with a court-appointed attorney outside or even inside the courtroom—before entering a guilty plea or going to trial. Others enter guilty pleas and are sentenced to imprisonment without any legal representation.
Many states, including Alabama, Georgia, Mississippi, New York, Pennsylvania, and Texas do not even have statewide public defender systems. Texas, Georgia, and some others leave primary responsibility for providing lawyers for those who cannot afford them to each county.
Bright recommends a series of reforms that would help to fulfill the promise of Gideon, saying that only by acknowledging the deficiencies in the system and providing the structure, standards, resources, independence, and accountability will the U.S. insure fair trials and adequate representation.
To commemorate the Gideon anniversary, OSI grantees across the country are involved in a range of projects to draw attention to the need for improved indigent defense.
"Ideas," an occasional paper from OSI, debates provocative and innovative strategies for social change to advance democratic and open society values. Current and past issues of "Ideas for an Open Society" are available on the web or in hard copy by contacting info.USprograms@sorosny.org.
Note to reporters and assignment editors: more information on indigent defense and interviews with Bright are available by contacting Amy Weil at Aweil@sorosny.org or 212-548-0381. OSI also maintains a list of grantees that are available to write op-eds and provide information on this and other criminal justice issues.
The Open Society Institute, a private operating and grantmaking foundation, is part of the network of foundations, created and funded by George Soros, active in more than 50 countries around the world.
OSI's U.S. Programs seek to strengthen democracy in the United States by addressing barriers to opportunity and justice, broadening public discussion about such barriers, and assisting marginalized groups to participate equally in civil society and to make their voices heard. OSI U.S. Programs challenges over-reliance on the market by advocating appropriate government responsibility for human needs and promoting public interest and service values. OSI U.S. Programs supports initiatives in a range of areas including access to justice for low and moderate income people; judicial independence; ending the death penalty; reducing gun violence and over-reliance on incarceration; drug policy reform; inner-city education and youth programs; fair treatment of immigrants; reproductive health and choice; campaign finance reform; and improved care of the dying.