50 years ago this week the United States Supreme Court decided the case of Gideon v. Wainwright. The Court responded to a plea written by Clarence Gideon in pencil and ruled that poor people are entitled to a lawyer and if they cannot afford one the government must appoint one. MinnPost published an article I wrote on the case. The article can be found at:  http://www.minnpost.com/community-voices/2013/03/happy-anniversary-clarence-gideon

Like any author who writes something I hope you take just a few minutes to read the article. But frankly I’d like to ask more. The right to counsel in our country is not in good shape. In the words of Supreme Court Justice Kagan  poor people are not entitled to a Cadillac defense but at least  should get a Ford Taurus defense. My Dad worked for Ford so obviously the reference to Ford products would resonate with me but the truth is in many places in our nation the right to counsel is a Model T Ford. We need to change that. So this is what I ask. If you think the message of this article makes sense please spend a few minutes passing it on to legislators, judges,  lawyers  and just plain friends. Ask them to join an incipient campaign to reinvigorate the right to counsel. If you know a public defender or appointed counsel consider sending them a note to thank them for what they do. But please think of how we can make fairness in the criminal justice system  and the right to counsel more of a reality.

Thanks,

Kevin