Janet Reno is the first woman Attorney General of the United States. She was sworn into office March 12, 1993. A graduate of Harvard Law School, she was appointed State Attorney for Dade County (Florida) in 1978 and was subsequently elected to the office five times. Ms. Reno helped establish the Miami Drug Court which has become a model for courts around the country. As U.S. Attorney General, she has focused on prevention and early intervention efforts to keep children away from gangs, drugs and violence.
Imagine you are accused of a crime, but you have no money to pay for a lawyer and are forced to face a criminal prosecution without any legal help. Imagine how frightening and unfair the contest would be.
I was reminded of this issue the first day I became United States Attorney General. As I walked into my new office, I passed under words inscribed above the entrance: "The United States wins its point whenever justice is done its citizens in the courts."
But is justice done when an accused cannot afford a lawyer to defend himself?
In 1963, an indigent man, who had been convicted of breaking into a Florida pool hall, filed a handwritten petition asking this question. He was concerned that the criminal justice system did not treat him, a poor man, as well as a rich man. Soon, nine Supreme Court Justices were considering what the Constitution requires to provide justice for rich and poor alike.
Celebrating Anniversary
March 18, 1998 was the 35th anniversary of their answer. In Gideon vs. Wainwright, the Justices made it clear that every defendant has a constitutional right to a lawyer in all felony cases. The Court reasoned that although defendants can choose, on their own, to defend themselves, they should not have to do so simply because they are poor. If they cannot afford a lawyer, they are entitled to one appointed by the court to ensure their rights are protected.In the Court's own words, "any person haled into court, who is too poor to hire a lawyer, cannot be assured a fair trial unless counsel is provided for him. . . . This seems to be an obvious truth."
What is less obvious is that the right to counsel is critical not only to the defendants and defense lawyers, but to all of us. The right to an attorney helps guarantee that any outcome, be it guilt or innocence, is just and definitive.
No prosecutor wants to prosecute someone whose defense counsel lacks the necessary skills and experience to put up a defense, and face the likelihood of having the conviction reversed on appeal. Certainly the prosecutor wants to secure a conviction, but not if it is based on a constitutional shortcut.
The Supreme Court has repeatedly emphasized that the right to counsel is a bedrock constitutional rule. In this sense, we all have a stake in vigilant protection of that right. That is because we all have a stake in our justice system's fundamental fairness and accuracy.
Since the Gideon case, our nation has invested significant resources to ensure indigent defendants get representation in the courtroom. But, unfortunately, the promise of Gideon is not completely fulfilled. Indigent defendants do not invariably receive effective assistance of counsel.
We all have heard the stories, no matter how infrequent, of a criminal defense attorney not adequately defending his or her client. Sometimes it is caused by a lack of resources. Sometimes it stems from the absence of a structure in the state to provide adequately for the indigent. But such failings inevitably erode the community's sense of justice and the aspiration of our system to equal justice under the law.
Review Defense Services
The Justice Department, for the first time in more than 10 years, has begun to document the state of indigent defense services.We need to stress the importance of Gideon. I have opened a dialogue with judges, prosecutors and defense attorneys, and I urge every state to take this occasion to review its indigent legal defense services and recommit itself to the promise of Gideon.
The Gideon decision is a testament to our system of justice in so many important ways. It reminds us that we have crafted a system that allows even the least powerful among us to bring about a fundamental change in the law. And it beckons us all to work to ensure that our justice system fully provides, in both fact and spirit, liberty and justice to all, rich and poor alike.