News Archive
'Indiana Law Review' Symposium to Consider Right to Counsel in Indiana and United States
03/22/2017
The right of the poor who face criminal charges in state courts to have a court-appointed attorney was not always guaranteed. And while the United States Supreme Court unanimously decided in Gideon v. Wainwright that indigent defendants must have state-funded counsel, access to public defenders remains deficient.
Indiana University Robert H. McKinney School of Law will commemorate the Indiana Law Review’s 50th anniversary with a symposium on April 7 that will examine “Implementing Gideon’s Promise: The Right to Counsel in the Nation and Indiana.”
“The serious deficiencies in public defense for the indigent in Indiana’s criminal and juvenile courts were recently documented in a lengthy report. This symposium – the first of its kind hosted by the law school – will focus on both the problems and possible solutions in Indiana while also discussing public defense representation throughout the United States,” said IU McKinney Professor of Law and Dean Emeritus Norman Lefstein. He is an organizer of the event and his remarks, “Will We Ever Succeed in Fulfilling Gideon’s Promise,” will kick-off the day-long program. “Speakers at the program will feature experts on Indiana’s public defense system, as well as prominent national experts from across the country.”
Dean Emeritus Lefstein is a nationally-recognized authority in the areas of indigent defense, criminal justice, and professional responsibility. He received the Robert O. Dawson Indigent Defense Distinguished Service Award from the Texas Indigent Defense Commission in Summer 2016.
The Sixth Amendment Center released a report in October 2016 on Indiana’s indigent defense that found the state’s public defender system is underfunded and that a right to a fair and speedy trial is routinely violated. Indiana counties can forgo state funding for public defense and avoid state oversight of how the indigent fare in the justice system, the study finds.
Other topics to be discussed throughout the day will include reforming Indiana’s public defense system, transforming the culture of public defense, litigation in reforming public defense, and innovation and reform in public defense.
The symposium, which carries with it 6.0 hours of continuing legal education credit with a registration (a fee may apply), will begin at 8:45 a.m. and conclude at 4:30 p.m. After the program, which will be held in the Inlow Hall Wynne Courtroom, attendees may take part in a reception in the law school’s atrium.
