Solutions to Address Nation's Broken Criminal Justice System Focus of Capitol Hill Event
Solutions to Address Nation's Broken Criminal Justice System Focus of Capitol Hill Event On June 8, 2011 a distinguished group of criminal justice system practitioners and policy experts – including David Keene, a member of the Right on Crime initiative, former North Carolina Supreme Court Justice Beverly Lake, renowned economist, Dr. Anne Morrison Piehl, and A.T. Wall, Director of the Rhode Island Department of Corrections provided detailed reform recommendations to address the urgent problems confronting state and federal criminal justice systems during a videotaped Capitol Hill event. The capacity audience included congressional staff and members of the Smart on Crime Coalition that produced an earlier report featuring many of the reforms discussed by the panelists. Moderator and TCP Government Affairs Counsel Christopher Durocher focused the discussion on reforms that could be successfully implemented during these challenging economic times.
Debtor Prison Case before SCOTUS Focus of Event
Several states, including South Carolina, Georgia and Florida, have created de facto “debtors’ prisons” in which individuals too poor to pay their fines or court-ordered obligations are incarcerated without being afforded the opportunity to be represented by counsel. In Turner v. Rogers, the United States Supreme Court will decide whether these individuals have a right to counsel. On April 25, 2011 The Constitution Project and the Washington Council of Lawyers co-hosted a panel discussion to talk about this issue. Joining us were panelists Catherine Carroll, Pro Bono Counsel for Michael Turner and a Partner at Wilmer Hale; Jo-Ann Wallace, President, National Legal Aid & Defender Association; Debra Gardner, Legal Director, Public Justice Center and Coordinator, National Coalition for a Civil Right to Counsel; and moderator Mary Schmid Mergler, Senior Counsel to The Constitution Project’s Criminal Justice Program.
Constitution Project President Virginia E. Sloan Interviews Laurence Tribe, Senior Counselor, Access to Justice, U.S. Department of Justice, at Annual ABA Conference
The interview, conducted on August 7, 2010, covered a wide variety of topics, including the progress being made by the Initiative, a recently formed office tasked with strengthening indigent defense resources and enhancing the delivery of legal services to the poor and middle class.
Panelists: (l-r) Steve Vladeck, Virginia Sloan, Bryan
Stevenson, Representative Robert C. "Bobby" Scott (D-VA)
2009-2010 Supreme Court Term Review
On July 21, 2010, TCP helped organize a congressional briefing on some of the most important criminal law cases decided during the recently concluded Supreme Court term. Moderated by TCP President Virginia Sloan and hosted by Representatives Jerrold Nadler (D-NY), Chairman, House Judiciary Subcommittee on the Constitution, Civil Rights, and Civil Liberties and Robert C. "Bobby" Scott (D-VA), Chairman, House Judiciary Subcommittee on Crime, Terrorism, and Homeland Security, the event was designed to provide members of Congress and their staff insight into reasoning and impact of these influential cases.
The Constitutional Right to Counsel Summit
"Bobby" Scott (D-VA), chair of the House, Crime, Terrorism, and Homeland Security Subcommittee, hosted "The Constitutional Right to Counsel Summit: A Dialogue on the State Public Defense Crisis & the Federal Response."
(l-r) Harvard Law Professor Charles Ogletree, House Judiciary Committee Counsel Carol Chodroff, Constitution Project President Virginia Sloan, and Representative Bobby Scott (D-VA)
Taken at the Department of Justice's "Looking Back, Looking Forward" Indigent Defense Symposium
On February 18-19, 2010, the Justice Department held a two-day symposium on what Attorney General Eric Holder called the "crisis" facing the indigent defense system in the United States. This event entitled, "Looking Back, Looking Forward," was the first federal agency-sponsored examination of indigent defense in a decade. The Justice Department's appointment of Harvard law professor Laurence H. Tribe marks an effort to improve access to lawyers for those unable to afford one.
