NACDL - National Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers

Assessment Tools  Cases  Reports and Studies  

Law Review Articles  News Articles   Other Legal Sources  Videos

ASSESSMENT TOOLS

• The Rhode Island Project: A Study of the Rhode Island Public Defender System and Attorney Workload Standards (NACDL & ABA, 2017).

• Indigent Defense Reforms in Brooklyn, New York: An Analysis of Mandatory Case Caps and Attorney Workloads (Center for Court Innovations, 2015).

• The Committee for Public Counsel Services Answering Gideon's Call Project Attorney Workload Assessment (CCI, 2014).

• The Missouri Project: A Study of the Missouri Public Defender System and Attorney Workload Standards (ABA, 2014). 

CASES

Right to Counsel

• Rothgery v. Gillespie County, 554 U.S. 191 (2008)

• Halbert v. Michigan, 545 U.S. 605 (2005) 

• Alabama v. Shelton, 535 U.S. 654 (2002) 

• Texas v. Cobb, 532 U.S. 162 (2001)

• United States v. Cronic, 466 U.S. 648 (1984)

• Scott v. Illinois, 440 U.S. 367 (1979)

• United States v. Ash, 413 U.S. 300 (1973)

• Argersinger v. Hamlin,407 U.S. 25 (1972)

• Coleman v. Alabama, 399 U.S. 1 (1970)

• Gilbert v. California, 388 U.S. 263 (1967)

• In Re Gault, 387 U.S. 1 (1967)

• United States v. Wade, 388 U.S. 218 (1967)

• Massiah v. United States, 377 U.S. 201 (1964)

• Douglas v. California, 372 U.S. 353 (1963)

• Gideon v. Wainwright, 372 U.S. 335 (1963)

Effective Assistance of Counsel

• Padilla v. Kentucky, 559 U.S. 356 (2010)

• Strickland v. Washington, 466 U.S. 668 (1984)

Waiver

•  Indiana v. Edwards, 554 U.S. 164 (2008)

•  Iowa v. Tovar, 541 U.S. 77 (2004)

• Faretta v. California, 422 U.S. 806 (1975)

• Johnson v. Zerbst, 304 U.S. 458 (1938) 

REPORTS AND STUDIES

Public Defense System Reports

• BJA’s Sixth Amendment Initiative: Strengthening the Constitutional Protections of the Accused A Report on Ten Sites Participating in Strategic Planning (CCI, 2021).

• Right to Counsel National Campaign: Stakeholder Engagement Report (R2C, 2020).

• Right to Counsel Services in the 50 States: An Indigent Defense Reference Guide for Policymakers (David Carroll, 2017).

• What is the State of Empirical Research on Indigent Defense Nationwide? A Brief Overview and Suggestions for Future Research (Nadine Frederique, Patricia Joseph, & R. Christopher C. Hild, 2015).

• The ABA "Ten Principles of a Public Defense Delivery System": How Close Are We to Being Able to Put Them into Practice? (Caroline S. Cooper, 2015).

• The Trials of Indigent Defense: Type of Counsel and Case Outcomes in Felony Jury (Erin York Cornwell, 2015).

• What Makes Lawyers Happy? Transcending the Anecdotes with Data from 6200 Lawyers (Lawrence S. Krieger & Kennon M. Sheldon, 2015).

• How Do We "Do Data" in Public Defense? (Andrew Lucas Blaize Davies, 2015).

• Indigent Defense Services in the United States (US Bureau of Justice Statistics, 2014).

• State Government Indigent Defense Expenditures (US Bureau of Justice Statistics, 2014).

• Map of Public Defense Funding, Delivery Models, State Independence, and Workload Standards (Gideon at 50, 2013).

LAW REVIEW ARTICLES

• Hoag, Alexis, Black on Black Representation (February 13, 2021). New York University Law Review, Vol. 96, 2021.

• The Sixth Amendment Façade: The Racial Evolution of the Right to Counsel, Shaun Ossei-Owuwu, University of Pennsylvania Law Review, 2019.

• Sixth Amendment Center and The Defender Initiative, "The Right to Counsel in Mississippi: Evaluation of Adult Felony Trial Level Indigent Defense Services" (2018). Fred T. Korematsu Center for Law and Equality. 90.

• The Right To Counsel But Not The Presence of Counsel: A Survey of State Criminal Procedures For Pre-Trial Release, John P. Gross, Fla. L. Rev., 69 Fla. L. Rev. 831 (2017).

• Steven J. Mulroy, The Bright Line's Dark Side: Pre-Charge Attachment of the Sixth Amendment Right to Counsel, 92 Wash. L. Rev. 213 (2017).

• Race, Paternalism, and the Right to Counsel, Kristin Henning, 54 AM. Crim. L. Rev, 2017.

• Veronica J. Finkelstein, Better Not Call Saul: The Impact of Criminal Attorneys on their Clients' Sixth Amendment Right to Effective Assistance of Counsel, 83 U. Cin. L. Rev. 1215 (2015).

• Gideon Skepticism, Alexandra Natapoff, Washington and Lee Law Review, 2013.

• John D. King, Beyond "Life and Liberty": The Evolving Right to Counsel, 48 Harv. C.R.-C.L. L. Rev. 1 (2013).

• Michael C. Mims, A Trap for the Unwary: The Sixth Amendment Right to Counsel After Montejo v. Louisiana, 71 La. L. Rev. (2010)

• Melissa Minas, Blurring the Line: Impact of Offense-Specific Sixth Amendment Right to Counsel, 93 J. Crim. L. & Criminology 195 (2002-2003). 

NEWS ARTICLES

• This is not Justice, By Jake Tapper, The Atlantic, October 12, 2022.

• Unequal Before the Law, By Matt Clair, The Nation, December 14, 2020.

• The Sixth Amendment Doesn't Shut Down When The Government Does, By Kira Lerner, The Appeal, January 24, 2019.

• When the Money Runs out for Public Defense, What Happens Next?, By Oliver Laughland, The Marshall Project, September 7, 2016.

OTHER LEGAL SOURCES

• American Bar Association (ABA) standards 

VIDEOS, WEBINARS, PODCASTS

Introduction to the Right to Counsel

Introduction to the Sixth Amendment's Right to Counsel

Presented by the National Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers (NACDL)

OPEN MIKE: Right to Fair Trial?

Right to Fair Trial? National Expert Exposes Serious Concerns in Courts All Across America

David Carroll is a nationally recognized expert in court system reform and the delivery of good counsel services. He works with the Sixth Amendment Center to ensure that people accused of crimes have access to adequate legal representation. In this episode of Open Mike, David tells Mike about the Michigan Justice system’s recent improvements after a report that his organization made on the state. They also discuss the inherent problem of bail and how court-appointed lawyers are too overworked to provide good counsel. Tune in to this insightful episode to learn about the problems with our criminal justice system and what needs to be done to fix it.

Sixth Amendment

A selected lecture from "Introduction to Key Constitutional Concepts and Supreme Court Cases" with University of Pennsylvania law professor Kermit Roosevelt III.

In Practice

Check out this episode of "In Practice" with host Rob Wolf and members of the Center for Court Innovation's Criminal Defense Initiatives team, Lisa Vavonese, deputy director, and Liz Ling, coordinator in which they discuss the use of video conferencing at initial appearances.

COVID-19 Issue Spotting and Record Preservation

The Michigan State Appellate Defender Office and the staff to the Michigan Indigent Defense Commission developed this important training for Michigan criminal defense attorneys during the COVID-19 pandemic. Co-Presenters for this session: Katherine Marcuz, Assistant Defender, State Appellate Defender Office Marla McCowan, Director of Training, Outreach & Support, Michigan Indigent Defense Commission Michael Mittlestat, Deputy Director, State Appellate Defender Office