As a long time litigator, I recall the milestone U.S. Supreme Court right to counsel decision in Gideon v. Wainwrght decided in 1963, the year I graduated from law school. On its 50th anniversary in 2013, many observers decried that the promise of Gideon—the furnishing of effective legal counsel to the indigent among us—was yet unfulfilled in many parts of this country. New York was no exception. In response to a lawsuit against five upstate counties with notable failure to comply with the constitutionally mandated right to counsel, the case was settled with the state agreed to provide necessary funding.
Last year, in a rare moment of statesmanship, the legislature unanimously passed a bill for the state to take over funding in the 52 other counties of all criminal defense furnished indigent defendants. Thus the hundreds of millions paid by New York City and the 80 million paid by other offices statewide would an absorbed in a uniform program. Plainly this measure would enable New York to comply with the U.S. Constitution after a 50+ year lapse.
