Deutch: Passage of Right to Counsel Resolution Must be Followed by Action
Press Release
The House of Representatives has passed a resolution introduced by Congressman Ted Deutch (FL-21) reaffirming support for the 6th Amendment right to counsel and recognizing the need for strategies to improve access to quality legal representation for indigent defendants in our criminal justice system. March 2013 marked the 50th anniversary of the Supreme Court's landmark decision Gideon v. Wainwright, which held that access to legal representation is so essential to a fair trial that states have a constitutional obligation to provide attorneys to criminal defendants unable to afford adequate representation.
The passage of H.Res 196 follows the recent introduction of Congressman Deutch's National Center for the Right to Counsel Act, legislation designed to spur desperately-needed improvements to public defender systems nationwide. The crushing caseloads, poor funding, and inadequate resources that plague indigent defense systems nationwide and undermine the 6th Amendment right to counsel have been well-documented in reports from the Department of Justice, American Bar Association, National Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers, and other organizations. This bill would equip states and localities with tools to implement their own indigent defense systems and meet their constitutional obligations as defined by the Supreme Court in Gideon v. Wainwright.
"I am pleased that the House of Representatives has gone on record in support of the right to counsel, but we all know that words alone will not fix the gross inadequacies of our indigent defense systems," said Congressman Deutch. "The National Center for the Right to Counsel Act represents an opportunity for this House to turn words into action and ensure that all Americans accused of crimes, regardless of their financial means, have access to quality legal representation. Our failure to uphold the 6th Amendment undermines the premise that in America, every person has the right to a fair trial and is presumed innocent until proven guilty."
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