Public Defense

    The Standing Committee on Legal Aid and Indigent Defense (SCLAID) is working to improve public defense systems nationwide.

    2023 Public Defense Summit - Achieving Political Independence and Manageable Caseloads in a Modern Public Defense System

    Online Event: April 13-14, 2023

    2023 marks the 60th anniversary of the Supreme Court’s decision in Gideon v. Wainwright guaranteeing the right to counsel for criminal defendants. But even six decades later, public defenders and other indigent defense providers continue to struggle against outside challenges to provide their clients with the best possible representation. The 2023 ABA Public Defense Summit will focus on ensuring manageable workloads, protecting public defender independence, and other such challenges.

    Learn - More and Register

    2022 ABA Public Defense Summit - Management and Oversight of Assigned Counsel and Contract Systems

    Public Defense Summit

    Summit Program Recordings Are Now Available

    In almost every jurisdiction in the country, some portion of public defense work is undertaken by private practice attorneys operating as either court appointed or contract counsel. The 2022 ABA public defense summit focused on the needs and oversight of such attorneys, whether they were representing all individuals charged with crimes in their jurisdiction or just a small portion thereof.

    View - Summit

    Ten Principles on Reducing Mass Incarceration

    Adopted at the 2022 ABA Annual Meeting, the Ten Principles on Reducing Mass Incarceration articulate the critical steps necessary to help to combat the drivers of mass incarceration and ultimately reduce the number of people in jails and prisons nationwide.

    Read - Principles

    The Oregon Project: An Analysis of the Oregon Public Defense System and Attorney Workloads Standards

    ABA SCLAID and Moss Adams collaboratively conducted the Oregon Project, An Analysis of Public Defense Attorney Workloads. Published in January 2022, the Oregon Project includes an analysis of historical public defense caseloads and staffing, as well as a Delphi process, which resulted in attorney workload standards. Combining these analyses, the project determined that, at current caseloads, Oregon has a very substantial deficiency of contract public defense attorneys.

    Read - Report

    The New Mexico Project: An Analysis of the New Mexico Public Defense System and Attorney Workload Standards

    ABA SCLAID and Moss Adams collaboratively conducted the New Mexico Project, an analysis of public defense attorney workloads. Published in January 2022, the New Mexico Project included an analysis of historical public defense caseloads and staffing, as well as a Delphi process, which resulted in attorney workload standards. Comparing these analyses, the project determined that New Mexico has a significant deficiency of public defense attorneys.

    Read - Report

    Use of the Delphi Method in ABA SCLAID Public Defense Workload Studies: A Report on Lessons Learned - By Stephen F. Hanlon, Malia Brink & Norman Lefstein.

    Together with data and system analysis experts, ABA SCLAID has conducted public defender workload studies in Missouri, Louisiana, Colorado, Rhode Island and Indiana. This new report details ABA SCLAID’s use of the Delphi Method to establish jurisdiction-specific public defense workload standards and details lessons learned while conducting these studies.

    Read - Report

    COVID-19 Resources

    Pandemic Resources

    The ABA Standing Committee on Legal Aid and Indigent Defense (SCLAID) has launched a web page that consolidates resources from across the country to assist the access to justice community in addressing the many challenges resulting from the COVID-19 pandemic.

    Explore - COVID-19 Resources

    Court Watching

    ABA Court Watching

    ABA SCLAID and CRSJ have coordinated on a number of court watching efforts. These efforts have focused on misdemeanor and other low-level criminal and civil infraction courts.

    Learn More - Courts

    Reports and Publications

    Reports and Publications on Indigent Defense

    Here you will find recent books and reports concerning indigent criminal defense, as well as links to archived materials.

    Learn More - Reports

    Events, Webinars and CLE

    Indigent Defense Events

    SCLAID regularly hosts, sponsors or co-sponsors a variety of events on topics relating to public defense or of interest to the public defense community. This page features upcoming events, meetings and CLE, as well as past events available on video.

    Explore - Events

    ABA Standards and Policies

    Standards and Policies

    View standards and policies related to public defense.

    Learn - More

    Public Defense News

    News and news archives available at indigentdefense.org. Email Mark Pickett at mark.pickett@americanbar.org with news, jobs, events, or subscription requests.

    Here is the public defense news Jan 26-Feb 1, 2023

    Registration for the ABA Public Defense Summit is now live! The summit will be held virtually on April 13 and 14, 2023. The summit will focus on ensuring manageable workloads, protecting public defender independence, and other such challenges. Earn 9 hours of CLE credit, including 1.5 ethics credit hours.

    National:

    ‘America’s dirty little secret’: Thousands of misdemeanor defendants don’t get attorneys

    ‘Unconstitutional’ public defense systems upend lives, freedom across West

    Staffing shortages, crushing workloads make public defenders’ jobs ‘impossible’

    Criminal defense attorney breaks down graphic video of Tyre Nichols' beating

    REPORT: Analyzing the ‘Over-Incarceration of Native Americans’

    Resources

    Technical Assistance

    Find information regarding technical assistance to courts, bar associations, and other entities.

    Contact - Us