There is a lack of funding for public defense in every state, and people charged with low-level misdemeanors, often poor minorities, suffer the most as public defender offices focus their few resources on felony cases.
Sixth Amendment
Florida Justices: Cops May Not Keep Lawyer From Client Even in Voluntary Interviews
While a murder suspect was being voluntarily interrogated before he confessed, his lawyer appeared at the sheriff’s office but cops wouldn’t let the lawyer see his client.
Florida Supreme Court Halts Executions Indefinitely; 389 Death Row Inmates In Limbo
The U.S. Supreme Court invalidated Florida’s death-penalty sentencing scheme on Jan. 12, forcing the state to rewrite its law but also putting in question whether the new law must apply to all 489 death row inmates.
Florida Lawmakers Urged to Require Unanimous Verdicts in Death Penalty Cases
Florida is the only state in the nation where a simple jury majority is enough for a death penalty recommendation, one of several problems at odds with a new U.S. Supreme Court ruling on Florida’s capital punishment system.
Lawyers for Condemned Florida Man Call for Halt To Execution in Light of “Tectonic Shift”
Lawyers for Cary Michael Lambrix, who has been on Death Row for more than three decades, have asked the Florida Supreme Court to halt his execution in light of a U.S. Supreme Court decision declaring Florida’s court process unconstitutional in such cases.
U.S. Supreme Court Declares Florida’s Death Penalty Scheme Unconstitutional
The United States Supreme Court, in an emphatic ruling Tuesday, declared Florida’s death penalty sentencing scheme to be a violation of the Sixth Amendment.
The FBI’s Hairy Evidence Sends Floridians to Prison on Unscientific Testimony
At least 42 Floridians have gone to prison on tainted FBI evidence, including one who was executed and as many as nine who remain on death row, after trials in which FBI “experts” gave testimony that the agency concedes to have been unscientific.
Guilty of Being Poor: Across the Nation, Courts Shake Down the Destitute
From fines targeting the poor to civil asset forfeiture, courts have mounted odious means of seizing cash and property from people not charged with any crime and who can’t afford legal defense.
When Good Lawyers Defend Bad Men
Melissa Moore Stens, a candidate for Flagler County judge, has been unfairly criticized for defending Paul Miller, the Flagler Beach man who shot and killed his neighbor over barking dogs. But Paul Miller should be on trial, not his lawyers–or the Sixth Amendment.