Decades after the United States Supreme Court ruling in Gideon v. Wainwright and other landmark Supreme Court decisions, which recognized the constitutional right to counsel for defendants facing the possibility of imprisonment who could not afford to hire a lawyer, many states and localities still fail to provide competent criminal defense counsel. In much of the country, insufficient funding and oversight of public defender systems has led to unacceptable caseloads, supervision, and training, resulting in inadequate representation. Too often the representation is perfunctory and so deficient as not to amount to representation at all.

The Constitution Project established its National Right to Counsel Committee to address this problem. The Committee comprises all facets of the criminal justice system, including current and former judges, prosecutors, defense counsel, police, and victim advocates. The Committee seeks to effect change that will light the way toward genuine and lasting improvement in the delivery of indigent defense services in America, thus enhancing the quality of justice for all.

In 2009, the National Right to Counsel Committee released its seminal report, Justice Denied: America's Continuing Neglect of Our Constitutional Right to Counsel. The report presents 22 consensus recommendations. The committee calls upon states to properly fund and administer indigent defense systems, but also calls upon other players, such as the federal government, state bar associations, prosecutors, and judges, to step up and address the crisis facing the country. The Constitution Project is working to promote the recommendations in Justice Denied in states across the country.