Deconstructing the Right to Counsel

Sixth Amendment--Paternalistic Override of Waiver of Right to Conflict-Free Counsel at Expense of Right to Counsel of One's Choice

Comprehending Canadian police cautions: are the rights to silence and legal counsel understandable?

Comprehension of a Canadian police right to silence caution and a right to legal counsel caution was examined. Each caution was first presented verbally in its entirety, followed by its sentence-by-sentence presentation in written format. Participants (N = 56) were asked to indicate, after each presentation, their understanding of the caution. When delivered in verbal format, 4 and 7% of partic...

Bridging the Justice Gap: Exploring Approaches for Improving Indigent Access to Civil Counsel

The United States is among one of the only democratic industrialized nations in the world that does not provide guaranteed access to civil representation in cases involving basic human need. This leaves indigent litigants who are at risk of losing their homes or their children left to seek counsel through insufficient pro-bono programs or limited scope legal self-help centers. This thesis provi...

Connecting Self-Representation to Civil Gideon: What Existing Data Reveal About When Counsel is Most Needed

Over the past decade, the phenomenon of self-representation in civil cases has led to the development of programs designed to facilitate self-representation. A revitalized movement seeking to establish a civil right to counsel has emerged (civil Gideon, a civil right to counsel based on Gideon v. Wainwright), pressing for the expansion of the availability of counsel for the poor. What are the s...

A Comparison of Sentencing Outcomes for Defendants with Public Defenders Versus Retained Counsel in a Florida Circuit Court

The Sixth Amendment to the U.S. Constitution states that a criminal defendant has the right to counsel for his defense, and the Fourteenth Amendment states that defendants must be provided due process and equal protection under law. Despite this, it is unclear whether indigent defendants in the United States-who are disproportionately ethnic minorities-are receiving such protections when it com...