For years the popular belief has been, if you’re charged with a crime, the last person you want representing you is a public defender. The image of a public defender is an overworked, underpaid hack ...

This year marks six decades since the landmark Supreme Court ruling in Gideon v. Wainwright, a decision that forever altered the landscape of the American system of justice. The promise of Gideon was ...

Sixty years ago today the Supreme Court ruled that people accused of crimes but without means to pay for a lawyer would be provided with one at public expense. The promise of that landmark ruling in ...

This piece was published in coordination with Zealous, an organization working to amplify the perspective of public defenders. Learn more about the history of public defense at This Is Defense. But ...

The Supreme Court's 1963 decision in Gideon v. Wainwright is a pledge of equal justice under the law. It's up to us to uphold it. A mural in the Empire State Plaza Concourse is seen in this March 18, ...

This week marks the 60th anniversary of a landmark Supreme Court case that guaranteed criminal defendants the right to a lawyer. That guarantee has been challenged by budgets and high demand. This ...

March 18 is the anniversary of Gideon v. Wainwright, a case from 1963 in which the U.S. Supreme Court unanimously ruled that every person accused of a crime in America must be provided with legal ...