The ACLU believes that all criminal defendants have the constitutional right to effective representation of counsel. Both the federal and Idaho state constitution make that promise and it applies to all, regardless of income or social status. Regrettably, across the state, many Idahoans hauled into court face a deficient criminal justice system where public defender offices are under resourced, overburden and public defenders are often overworked. The state of Idaho must invest adequate  resources to establish an effective system of public defense to uphold the constitutional rights of all.  The ACLU of Idaho  works steadfastly at the legislature and in the courts to advocate for a constitutional system of public defense.
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ACLU SUES IDAHO OVER DEFECTIVE PUBLIC DEFENSE SYSTEM

On June 17th, 2015 the ACLU, the ACLU of Idaho, and the global law firm Hogan Lovells filed a class action lawsuit against the state of Idaho asking the court to force the state to fix its unconstitutional system of public defense. Idaho's current system deprives thousands of Idahoans of their Sixth Amendment right to adequate legal representation and withholds the resources needed by public defenders throughout the state to effectively represent those prosecuted by state government.
The complaint details that the plaintiffs in the lawsuit have had to go before a judge for bail hearings, and even to enter pleas of guilty and be sentenced, without a lawyer present. As a result, these defendants faced bail amounts too high for them to afford and weeks or months in jail. Due to inadequate resources, many have not had their cases sufficiently investigated, if at all, and have had no access to expert witnesses to help defend against the state’s allegations.
The lawsuit asks the court to order the state to implement reforms such as establish an enforceable state-level oversight; institute state-wide standards for uniform workload, performance, and training; or allocate significant funding to public defense.
For the legal complaint and more information about the lawsuit, click here.

IDAHO BACKGROUND

In its unanimous Gideon v. Wainwright decision (1963), the Supreme Court ruled that the Sixth and Fourteenth Amendments’ guarantee of counsel in criminal cases applies to defendants in state as well as federal courts. The indigent defendant Clarence Earl Gideon was convicted of robbery in Florida after a trial judge rejected his request for a court-appointed lawyer. From prison he appealed to the Supreme Court, which agreed he should have been represented by counsel. Justice Hugo Black wrote, “ … reason and reflection require us to recognize that in our adversary system of criminal justice, any person haled into court, who is too poor to hire a lawyer, cannot be assured a fair trial unless counsel is provided for him.” The Court ordered a retrial for Gideon, who was acquitted after the jury deliberated a mere hour.
Thus for more than a half century Gideon v. Wainwright has guaranteed that every person accused of a crime shall be adequately represented by counsel. The ACLU of Idaho, however, believes that the State of Idaho fails to provide the required level of representation for those who cannot afford counsel in its criminal and juvenile courts. This opinion is bolstered by an independent study published in 2010 by the National Legal Aid and Defender Association (NLADA) at the request of the Idaho Criminal Justice Commission, appointed by then-Governor Dirk Kempthorne. Among other findings, the NLADA study found that in some places in Idaho single public defenders are being forced to do the work that only four full-time lawyers could reasonably be expected to handle.
“By delegating to each county the responsibility to provide counsel at the trial level without any state funding or oversight,” the study reported, “Idaho has sewn a patchwork quilt of underfunded, inconsistent systems that vary greatly in
The ACLU of Idaho is actively investigating the State of Idaho’s failure to live up to the constitutional minimums required by Gideon v. Wainwright.  Impelled by civil liberties complaints  from Idahoans across the state and aided by the efforts of many law students, cooperating attorneys, and volunteers, we have collected detailed information about how the State is failing its constitutional obligation to provide Idaho’s public defenders with the resources they need to do their jobs.  We vow to fight zealously in the courts and in the legislature on behalf of the constitutional right of all Idahoans to an adequate public defense system.

 
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