Defender Initiative Sixth Amendment Center BJA Systemic Defender Standards Project

This program is funded under the Edward Byrne Memorial Competitive Grant Program (Byrne Competitive Program), which helps communities improve the functioning and capacity of state and local criminal justice systems. The Answering Gideon's Call: National Assistance to Improve the Effectiveness of Right to Counsel Services Initiative is in response to the U.S. Supreme Court landmark decision Gideon v. Wainwright of 1963, which guaranteed the right to counsel in criminal cases in every state. In the criminal justice system, indigent defense providers are often underfunded and understaffed, severely affecting the delivery of effective, efficient, and quality legal representation for indigent criminal defendants.

The Answering Gideon's Call: National Assistance to Improve the Effectiveness of Right to Counsel Services Initiative is designed to improve the quality of representation of indigent defendants and ensure professional and ongoing technical assistance to the indigent defense delivery services guided by the Ten Principles of a Public Defense Delivery System, promulgated by the American Bar Association (ABA) in 2002. The goal of this initiative is to provide resources to enhance state and local jurisdictions' ability to provide quality representation to indigent defendants and promote implementation of innovative strategies that incorporate the ABA's Ten Principles.

CA/NCF