June 21/Boston: Gideon at 50: A Problem of Poltical Will

Carol Steiker

Fifty years ago, in the case of Gideon v. Wainwright, the United States Supreme Court declared that the Sixth Amendment requires that states, like the federal government, provide trial counsel to indigent defendants in criminal cases. To mark the fiftieth anniversary of that decision, Carol Steiker, Henry J. Friendly Professor of Law at Harvard Law School, Member of the Committee for Public Counsel Services (CPCS), and a former public defender, will shine a light on the structural impediments to our fully grasping the guarantees of Gideon. Professor Steiker will show how poor funding, inadequate resources, and disparate (or non-existent) standards, rather than incompetent defense attorneys, deprive indigent defendants of adequate counsel. In an address that is part condemnation but ultimately a call to action, Professor Steiker will assert that each of us has a role to play in ensuring that, before its next anniversary, the promise of Gideon is more fully realized.
Title:
Gideon at 50: A Problem of Poltical Will
When/Where:
Friday, June 21, 2013 - 12:30pm
Boston Bar Association
16 Beacon Street
Boston, MA
Speaker:
Carol Steiker, Henry J. Friendly Professor of Law, Special Advisor for Public Service, Harvard Law School; Member, Committee for Public Counsel Services; Member, Board of Advisors, ACS Boston Lawyer Chapter
RSVP required
By:

• The Boston Lawyer Chapter of the American Constitution Society
• Boston Bar Association - Civil Rights & Civil Liberties Section

Credit:
The sponsor does not appear to have applied for CLE credit, but the speaker and subject matter appear to make this event eligible for credit in multiple jurisdictions.
More:
http://www.acslaw.org/BostonSteikeronGideon