See the Strengthening the Sixth training and technical assistance (TTA) website for information on Sixth Amendment Rights, including references to relevant court cases, how to access TTA resources, and other resources, including the following:
- BJA’s Sixth Amendment Initiative: Strengthening the Constitutional Protections of the Accused
- Podcast: In Practice | Virtual Court: Barriers to Access and Fairness at Initial Appearances
Additional Resources
- Ten Principles of a Public Defense Delivery System (ABA): Practical guide for governmental officials, policymakers, and others. Approved February 2002.
- Speedy Trial: ABA, Standards for Criminal Justice – Speedy Trial and Timely Resolution of Criminal Cases (3d ed. 2006)
- The Ten Principles Resource Guide: A Resource Guide to The Ten Principles of a Public Defense Delivery System and other Smart Defense Initiatives
- Right to Counsel Quarterly Webinars: Catch up on R2C Webinars from 2017
Websites
- Strengthen The Sixth
- Access to Justice
- Right to Counsel National Campaign
- National Legal Aid and Defender Association
- National Criminal Justice Reform Project
- Gideon's Promise
- Sixth Amendment Center
Indigent Defense Publications
Since the 1970s, the U.S. Department of Justice has both funded and authored a variety of studies and reports relevant to the provision of indigent defense services. Where possible, links to the reports have been included and more will come on line in the coming months. As we work to make this a comprehensive bibliography of indigent defense materials authored or funded by the Department, please contact the Access to Justice Initiative at 202-514-5312 about any appropriate publications that may be missing from this list.
| Title | Author | Year | Funded By | Description |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| A Conference Report: National Symposium on Indigent Defense 2000: Redefining Leadership for Equal Justice (June 29-30, 2000) (NCJ 187491) | U.S. Department of Justice, Office of Justice Programs | 2000 | Bureau of Justice Assistance (OJP) | This is the final report on the National Symposium on Indigent Defense 2000 (Washington, DC, June 29-30, 2000), encouraging criminal justice professionals to collaboratively promote the integrity of the criminal justice system and providing recommendations for action by State delegations. |
| An Exemplary Project: The Public Defender Service of the District of Columbia, Vol. I: Policies and Procedure (NCJ 15080) | U.S. Department of Justice, Law Enforcement Assistance Administration | 1975 | Law Enforcement Assistance Administration |
This training manual assists public defender agencies in developing an in-house capability for training new staff attorneys. Volume 1 contains detailed descriptions of the public defender service program, including information on planning and management, legal and investigative services, rehabilitation and post-conviction alternatives, program evaluation, and costs. |
| An Exemplary Project: The Public Defender Service of the District of Columbia, Vol. II: Training Materials (NCJ 15081) | U.S. Department of Justice, Law Enforcement Assistance Administration | 1975 | Law Enforcement Assistance Administration | This training manual assists public defender agencies in developing an in-house capability for training new staff attorneys. Volume 2 covers public defender training systems, training programs for new attorneys, and materials for a jury practice course |
| Assigned Counsel vs. Public Defender Systems in Virginia: A Comparison of Relative Benefits (NCJ 94561) | Larry J. Cohen, Patricia P. Semple, Paul Radtke and Robert E. Crew, Jr. (American Institutes for Research) | 1982 | National Institute of Justice (OJP) | This text compares assigned counsel systems and public defender systems, including analysis on costs, quality and implications. |
| BJA Bulletin: Criminal Courts Technical Assistance Project (NCJ 185780) | Joseph A. Trotter (Criminal Courts Technical Assistance Project, American University) | 2001 | Bureau of Justice Assistance (OJP) | This report describes the services and summarizes the publications of the Criminal Courts Technical Assistance Project. Services include onsite consultation to individual courts, justice system agencies, and general government agencies, multijurisdictional workshops, and best-practice guides. |
| BJA Bulletin: Key Elements of Successful Adjudication Partnerships (NCJ 173949) | Jane Nady Sigmon and M. Elaine Nugent (American Prosecutors Research Institute); John Goerdt (National Center for State Courts); Scott Wallace (National Legal Aid & Defender Association) | 1999 | Bureau of Justice Assistance (OJP) | Adjudication partnerships entail collaborative efforts among prosecutors, public defenders, and courts in the adjudication process. This report features profiles of 8 partnerships, checklist, list of organizations from which to obtain more information, and 15 references. |
| BJA Bulletin: Providing Effective Representation for Youth Prosecuted as Adults (NCJ 182502) | Malcolm C. Young (The Sentencing Project) | 2000 | Bureau of Justice Assistance (OJP) | This bulletin describes successes in public defenders’ attempts to provide high-quality representation to youth prosecuted in adult criminal courts. It uses the experiences of defenders across the country to identify key elements of defender programs that effectively meet the needs of transferred children. |
| BJA Bulletin: The Miami-Dade Public Defender’s Office Juvenile Sentencing Advocacy Project (NCJ 187158) | Kelly D. Johnson (Institute on Crime, Justice and Corrections at The George Washington University) | 2001 | Bureau of Justice Assistance (OJP) | Miami-Dade Public Defender's Juvenile Sentencing Advocacy Project is a juvenile justice sentencing plan that permits judges in adult courts to sentence transferred juveniles to the State's Department of Juvenile Justice, thereby maximizing the effective rehabilitation of youth in a system that was designed to recognize and respond to the developmental needs of adolescents. |
| BJA Monograph, Indigent Defense Series #4: Keeping Defender Workloads Manageable (NCJ 185632) | The Spangenberg Group | 2001 | Bureau of Justice Assistance (OJP) | This report discusses approaches developed by public defender organizations, state legislatures, state courts and other entities to managing the workloads of attorneys who represent indigent defendants. |
| BJA Monograph: Contracting for Indigent Defense Services: A Special Report (NCJ 181160) | Robert L. Spangenberg, Marea L. Beeman, David J. Carroll, David Freedman, Evelyn Pan, David J. Newhouse, and Dorothy Chan (The Spangenberg Group) | 2000 | Bureau of Justice Assistance (OJP) | Written for individuals in the justice system who are using, considering or implementing an indigent defense contract system, this report presents the major judicial and legislative attempts to deal with those systems, examines the best and worst features of contract systems and discusses the national standards that govern contract systems. |
| BJA Monograph: Indigent Defense and Technology: A Progress Report (NCJ 179003) | Robert L. Spangenberg, Marea L. Beeman, David J. Carroll, David Freedman, Evelyn Pan, David J. Newhouse and Dorothy Chan (The Spangenberg Group) | 1999 | Bureau of Justice Assistance (OJP) | This report looks at how technology is changing the way attorneys and staff work in public defender offices. |
| BJS Bulletin: Indigent Defense Services in Large Counties, 1999 (NCJ 184932) | Carol J. Defrances and Marika F. X. Litras (U.S. Department of Justice, Bureau of Justice Statistics) | 1999 | Bureau of Justice Statistics (OJP) | This bulletin presents findings from the National Survey of Indigent Defense Systems, 1999. The report details the methods by which indigent criminal defense is delivered in the Nation's 100 most populous counties. It also compares the operating expenditures, staffing, and caseloads of the different types of indigent defense services used in those counties |
| BJS Selected Findings: Census of Public Defender Offices, 2007: Public Defender Offices, 2007 – Statistical Tables (Revised) (NCJ 228538) | Lynn Langton and Donald J. Farole, Jr. (U.S. Department of Justice, Bureau of Justice Statistics) | 2010 | Bureau of Justice Statistics (OJP) | This report provides a summary of focus group discussions held to review the successes and failures in the delivery of public defense services, and assess the lessons learned resulting in recommendations for the future. |
| BJS Selected Findings: Indigent Defense (NCJ 158909) | Steven K. Smith and Carol J. DeFrances (U.S. Department of Justice, Bureau of Justice Statistics) | 1996 | Bureau of Justice Statistics (OJP) | Indigent defense services for criminal defendants are described, based on findings from Bureau of Justice Statistics surveys. |
| BJS Special Report: A National Survey - Criminal Defense Systems (NCJ 94630) | Carla K. Gaskins (U.S. Department of Justice, Bureau of Justice Statistics) | 1984 | Bureau of Justice Statistics (OJP) | This survey provides national data on public defense system types, funding sources, costs, and caseloads. |
| BJS Special Report: Census of Public Defender Offices, 2007: County-based and Local Public Defender Offices, 2007 (NCJ 231175) | Lynn Langton and Donald J. Farole, Jr. (U.S. Department of Justice, Bureau of Justice Statistics) | 2010 | Bureau of Justice Statistics (OJP) | This BJS produced report examines the provision of public defender services in the 27 states and the District of Columbia in which indigent defense services were funded and administered by counties or local jurisdictions in 2007. |
| BJS Special Report: Census of Public Defender Offices, 2007: State Public Defender Programs, 2007 (NCJ 22829) | Lynn Langton and Donald J. Farole, Jr. (U.S. Department of Justice, Bureau of Justice Statistics) | 2010 | Bureau of Justice Statistics (OJP) | This BJS produced report examines the provision of public defender services in the 22 States that had an entirely State-funded and State-administered indigent defense program in 2007. |
| BJS Special Report: Defense Counsel in Criminal Cases (NCJ 179023) | Caroline Wolf Harlow (U.S. Department of Justice, Bureau of Justice Statistics) | 2000 | Bureau of Justice Statistics (OJP) | This report examines issues of legal representation for defendants in Federal district court and large state courts, and inmates in local jails and Federal and State prison. It briefly describes types of publicly financed programs available to both Federal and local defendants. |
| BJS Special report: National Survey of Indigent Defense Systems, 1999: State-Funded Indigent Defense Services, 1999 (NCJ 188464) | Carol J. DeFrances (U.S. Department of Justice, Bureau of Justice Statistics) | 2001 | Bureau of Justice Statistics (OJP) | This report examines the characteristics and operations of State-funded indigent defense systems, including how the programs are organized and state operating expenditures. |
| Compendium of Standards for Indigent Defense Systems: A Resource Guide for Practitioners and Policymakers (NCJ 187860) | Neal Miller (Institute for Law and Justice), Peter Ohlhausen (Ohlhausen Research, Inc.) | 2000 | Bureau of Justice Assistance (OJP) | This national compendium of standards helps assess the adequacy or appropriateness of indigent defense services: administration of defense systems; attorney performance; capital case representation; appellate representation; and juvenile justice defense. |
| Criminal Defense for the Poor, 1986 (NCJ 112919) | Robert L. Spangenberg, Judy Kapuseinski and Patricia A. Smith (The Spangenberg Group) | 1986 | Bureau of Justice Statistics (OJP) | This study replicates the methodology used in a 1982 survey of State criminal defense programs for the poor, using a stratified sample of 718 counties in 50 States to update and provide comparable data on indigent defense services. |
| Criminal Defense Systems Study: Final Report (NCJ 100519) | Robert Spangenberg, Beverly Lee, M. Battaglia, P. Smith and A.D. Davis (Abt Associates) | 1984 | Bureau of Justice Statistics (OJP) | These 1984 survey results provide nationwide data on types of indigent defense systems, funding sources, costs, and caseloads. |
| Early Representation by Defense Counsel Field Test - Final Evaluation Report - Executive Summary (NCJ 97596) | Ernest J. Fazio Jr., Sandra Wexler, M.A., Thomas Foster, Michael J. Lowy, David Sheppard and Juliet A. Musso (Urban and Rural Systems Associates) | 1985 | National Institute of Justice (OJP) | This report is an evaluation from an investigation of the impact of an early representation program, which provided public defender services to defendants as early in the adjudication process as possible and which enhanced normal service by including early investigation and early plea negotiation on the management of and services delivered by the public defender office, on the attorney-client relationship and on the criminal justice system. |
| Early Representation by Defense Counsel Field Test Evaluation - The Shelby County Experience - A Case Study (NCJ 102913) | Ernest J. Fazio Jr., Sandra Wexler, M.A., Thomas Foster, Michael J. Lowy, David Sheppard and Juliet A. Musso (Urban and Rural Systems Associates) | 1984 | National Institute of Justice (OJP) | This case study describes Shelby County, Tennessee's successful development and implementation of the Early Representation by Defense Counsel field test in which felony defendants were screened soon after arrest for program eligibility, randomly assigned into test and control groups, and test defendants were represented by attorneys as soon as possible. |
| Early Representation by Defense Counsel Field Test: Final Evaluation Report (NCJ 97595) | Ernest J. Fazio Jr., Sandra Wexler, M.A., Thomas Foster, Michael J. Lowy, David Sheppard, Juliet A. Musso (Urban and Rural Systems Associates) | 1985 | National Institute of Justice (OJP) | This text evaluates the Early Representation by Defense Counsel field test, which was a national policy experiment designed to test the efficacy of early representation by the public defender for indigent, noncapital felony defendants. |
| Early Representation by Defense Counsel in Shelby County, Tennessee 1982-1983: Final Report (NCJ 95725) | Steven E. Weitzman (Office of the Public Defender of Shelby County) | 1983 | National Institute of Justice (OJP) | This is the report from one site that was involved in a larger field test which investigated the impact of an early representation program that provided the services of the public defender to defendants as early in the adjudication as possible. It concludes that normal services were enhanced by early investigation and early plea negotiation on the management and services delivered by the public defenders office,and on the attorney-client relationship and the criminal justice system. |
| Efficiency, Timeliness, and Quality: A New Perspective from Nine State Criminal Trial Courts (NCJ 178403) | Brian J. Ostrom and Roger A. Hanson (National Center for State Courts) | 2003 | National Institute of Justice (OJP) | This study examines the relationship between case processing timeliness and quality, finding that more efficient work orientations attorneys and attorneys’ views about their work environment and toward each other’s activities were linked to the timeliness of their court. |
| Evaluation Design for the Offices of the Public Defender (NCJ 36019) | Roberta Rovner-Pieczenik, Alan Rapoport and Martha Lane (National Legal Aid & Defender Association) | 1976 | Law Enforcement Assistance Administration | This handbook assesses the quality of services being delivered by public defenders through evaluation of delivery of legal and supportive services, quality of representation, and functioning as an adversary. |
| Final Report of the National Defender Leadership Project (link is external) | Vera Institute of Justice | 2001 | Bureau of Justice Assistance (OJP) | This report is an overview of the National Defender Leadership project, which provides technical assistance and consulting services to criminal defense practitioners and policy makers nationwide. |
| Guide to Establishing a Defender System (NCJ 44091) | Nancy Albert Goldberg and Jay Lawrence Lichtman (National Institute of Law Enforcement and Criminal Justice) | 1978 | Law Enforcement Assistance Administration | This Guide discusses issues for stable, effective indigent defense systems, including funding and organization structure, as well as procedures for establishing public defender, private defender, and mixed, and assigned counsel systems. |
| Guidelines for Legal Defense Systems in the United States: Report of the National Study Commission on Defense Services - Final Report 1976 (NCJ 41494) (link is external) | National Legal Aid & Defender Association | 1976 | Law Enforcement Assistance Administration | This Summary of Recommendations from the National Study Commission on Defense Services, excerpts the Guidelines from the comprehensive Report of the U.S. Department of Justice-funded Commission convened by the National Legal Aid and Defender Association. |
| How Does Your Defender Office Rate? Self-Evaluation Model for Public Defender Offices (NCJ 36018) | Roberta Rovner-Pieczenik, Alan Rapoport and Martha Lane (National Legal Aid & Defender Association) | 1976 | Law Enforcement Assistance Administration | This manual discusses how public defenders can assess the quality of representation afforded by their offices through comparison of office performances with performance standards established by the profession. |
| Improving Criminal Justice Systems Through Expanded Strategies and Innovative Collaborations: Report of the National Symposium on Indigent Defense (February 25-26, 1999) (NCJ 181344) (link is external) | Richard J. Wilson (Washington College of Law at American University); Scott Wallace (National Legal Aid & Defender Association); Patricia Puritz (American Bar Association Juvenile Justice Center) | 1999 | Bureau of Justice Assistance (OJP) | This report presents the outcomes of the National Symposium on Indigent Defense (held February 25-26, 1999), which was convened by the U.S. Justice Department to explore ways in which the leaders of indigent defense systems can effectively forge alliances, build and strengthen innovative partnerships, and otherwise collaborate in ways that enhance the representation of indigent criminal defendants. |
| Improving State and Local Criminal Justice Systems: A Report on How Public Defenders, Prosecutors, and Other Criminal Justice System Practitioners Are Collaborating Across the Country (NCJ 173391) | Robert L. Spangenberg and Marea L. Beeman (The Spangenberg Group for the American Bar Association) | 1998 | Bureau of Justice Assistance (OJP) | The initiatives discussed in this report represent practical attempts to make the best use of limited criminal justice system resources by implementing projects that depend on interagency planning. |
| Improving the Nation’s Criminal Justice System: Findings and Results from State and Local Program Evaluations (NCJ 166882) | Marylinda Stawasz and Nancy Michel (The Justice Research and Statistics Association) | 1997 | Bureau of Justice Assistance (OJP) | This report describes six model programs related to offender drug treatment, batterer treatment, gang prevention, and other issues; the programs were federally funded, evaluated at the State and local levels, and identified as effective programs for other States and localities to replicate. |
| Indigent Defense Services in the State of Nevada: Findings & Recommendations (link is external) | David J. Carroll, Robert L. Spangenberg, Rangita de Silva-de Alwis, Jaime Bailey (The Spangenberg Group) | 2000 | Bureau of Justice Assistance (OJP) | This report details serious problems with the current provision of indigent defense services in Nevada and takes a national perspective to provides its ultimate findings/recommendations. |
| Indigent Defense Services in the United States, FY 2008-2012 (NCJ 246683) | Stephen D. Owens, Elizabeth Accetta, Jennifer J. Charles, and Samantha E. Shoemaker, U.S. Census Bureau | 2014 | Bureau of Justice Statistics (OJP) |
This report was prepared for BJS by the U.S. Census Bureau. It describes the indigent defense system for each state and the District of Columbia, including information on administration, methods of operation, and funding. It provides both direct and intergovernmental indigent defense expenditures of state governments for fiscal years 2008 through 2012, and presents some local government expenditures aggregated at the state level. The report uses administrative data from the U.S. Census Bureau’s Government Finance Survey and available data from state government budget and appropriation documents. |
| Indigent Defense Systems Analysis Project – Final Report (NCJ 043542) | Shelvin Singer, Beth Lynch, Karen Smith (National Legal Aid and Defender Association) | 1976 | Law Enforcement Assistance Administration | This is a study of defense services for indigents and of plea-bargaining practices as they relate to indigent defendants. The study report offers a description of the staffing, operations, and caseloads of the defense system surveyed and an analysis of plea-bargaining practices in these systems. |
| Indigent Defense Systems Analysis Project – Final Report (NCJ 043542) | Shelvin Singer, Beth Lynch, Karen Smith (National Legal Aid and Defender Association) | 1976 | National Institute of Justice (OJP) | This is a study of defense services for indigents and of plea-bargaining practices as they relate to indigent defendants. The study report offers a description of the staffing, operations, and caseloads of the defense system surveyed and an analysis of plea-bargaining practices in these systems. |
| International Perspectives on Indigent Defense (NCJ 236022) | Maha Jweied and Miranda Jolicoeur (U.S. Department of Justice, Access to Justice Initiative and National Institute of Justice) | 2011 | National Institute of Justice (OJP) |
This is a report summarizing an Expert Working Group meeting that convened in January 2011 to discuss the international and domestic practice of criminal indigent defense and the research needed to improve it. The report provides the Federal Government and the indigent defense community with recommendations that can steer the direction of indigent defense research and potential reform strategies for years to come. |
| International Perspectives on Indigent Defense (NCJ 236022) | Maha Jweied and Miranda Jolicoeur (U.S. Department of Justice, Access to Justice Initiative and National Institute of Justice) | 2011 | Office for Access to Justice |
This is a report summarizing an Expert Working Group meeting that convened in January 2011 to discuss the international and domestic practice of criminal indigent defense and the research needed to improve it. The report provides the Federal Government and the indigent defense community with recommendations that can steer the direction of indigent defense research and potential reform strategies for years to come. |
| Measuring the Effect of Defense Counsel on Homicide Case Outcomes (241158) | James M. Anderson; Paul Heaton | 2012 | National Institute of Justice (OJP) |
This study examined the impact of randomly assigned public defenders and court-appointed private attorneys in the outcome of criminal cases in Philadelphia, PA. The authors of this report used a sample dataset of 3,412 defendants charged with murder between 1994 and 2005. The study shows that compared to appointed counsel, public defenders reduce their client’s murder conviction rate by 19%, lowered the probability that their clients would receive a life sentence by 62%, and reduced overall expected time served in prison by 24. |
| National Criminal Defense Systems Study, Final Report (NCJ 94702) | Robert L. Spangenberg, Beverly Lee, Michael Battaglia, Patricia A. Smith and A. David Davis (Abt Associates) | 1986 | Bureau of Justice Statistics (OJP) | Based on survey responses from 750 county and State officials, this report is intended for use by indigent defense practitioners as well as planners and policymakers. |
| National Defender Leadership Project - Ultimate Advocacy: A Defender’s Guide to Asset-Based Management (NCJ 183510) | Nancy Vorsanger, Kirsten Levingston, Dara Orenstein (Vera Institute of Justice) | 2000 | Bureau of Justice Assistance (OJP) | This booklet describes the role of defender offices in guiding indigent clients to health and social services for productive lives, through an approach called "asset-based management." |
| National Defender Leadership Project - Ultimate Advocacy: A Defender’s Guide to Strategic Management (NCJ 183512) | Nancy Vorsanger, Kirsten D. Levingston and Dara Orenstein (Vera Institute of Justice ) | 1999 | Bureau of Justice Assistance (OJP) |
This booklet advises that there are three major issues to be considered before making a leadership decision: value, legitimacy and support, and operational capacity. |
| National Justice Agency List, 1980:Public Defender Agencies Subfile (NCJ 96167) | U.S. Department of Justice, Bureau of Justice Statistics | 1983 | Bureau of Justice Statistics (OJP) | The report offers a list of public defender offices operating at the time of publication. |
| NIJ Issues & Practices: Containing the Costs of Indigent Defense Programs: Eligibility Screening and Cost Recovery Procedures (NCJ 103682) | Robert L. Spangenberg (Abt Associates) | 1986 | National Institute of Justice (OJP) | This report reviews two of the most popular methods of cost control in indigent defense programs: 1) systematic review of defendant’s eligibility for representation, and 2) costs recovery for those defendants able to contribute to the costs of their defense. |
| NIJ Journal: Community Defense and the Challenge of Community Justice (NCJ 184880) | Christopher Stone (Vera Institute of Justice, Inc.) | 1996 | National Institute of Justice (OJP) | The Neighborhood Defender Service (NDS) in Harlem, New York, was an experiment aimed at developing and testing new ways of organizing and deploying public defenders to solve problems of community justice yet provide high-quality representation. The author believes the experiences gained from the NDS can inform the development of public defenders and the community justice movement in general. |
| NIJ Program Focus: Public Defenders in the Neighborhood: A Harlem Law Office Stresses Teamwork, Early Investigation (NCJ 163061) | David C. Anderson (National Institute of Justice Program Focus) | 1997 | National Institute of Justice (OJP) | This paper describes the structure and operations of the Neighborhood Defender Service in Harlem, which places public defenders in the community. |
| NLADA Blue Ribbon Advisory Committee on Indigent Defense Services Findings and Recommendations (link is external) | Marshall J. Hartman (National Legal Aid & Defender Association) | 1997 | Bureau of Justice Assistance (OJP) |
The committee identifies and reports on five national priority areas for defender communities: training, standards for indigent defense services, auditing and technical assistance, utilization of social service and other interdisciplinary resources and coalition building: adjudication, community, and other partnerships. |
| NLADA Interim Report: National Survey of Indigent Defense Systems (link is external) | Ira Mickenberg (National Legal Aid & Defender Association) | 1997 | Bureau of Justice Statistics (OJP) |
This report reviews existing research and literature on the delivery of legal services to indigent defendants and analyzes many of the recent changes in the administration of criminal justice that a following survey will address. |
| North Carolina: An Assessment of Access to Counsel and Quality of Representation in Delinquency Proceedings (NCJ 204538) | Lynn Grindall and Patricia Puritz (American Bar Association and the Southern Juvenile Justice Center in collaboration with National Juvenile Defender Center and the North Carolina Office of Indigent Defense Services) | 2003 | Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention (OJJDP) |
This study assesses access to legal counsel and the quality of legal representation for juveniles in delinquency proceedings in North Carolina. |
| OJJDP Bulletin: Innovative Approaches to Juvenile Indigent Defense (NCJ 171151) | Patricia Puritz and Wendy Wan Long Shang (U.S. Department of Justice, Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention) | 1998 | Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention (OJJDP) | Several initiatives in Maryland, New York, and the District of Columbia that provide comprehensive and holistic legal representation for juveniles are profiled. |
| Operating a Defender Office - Manual (NCJ 66779) | Burke E. Dorworth (Criminal Justice Research Utilization Program) | 1979 | National Institute of Justice (OJP) | Two papers discussed: 1) the problem of increasing workloads by a public defender in Solano County, CA and the procedure prescribed by the Association of Legal Aid attorneys regarding workload and individual limitation of workload; and 2) caseload litigation based on the refusal of the Colorado State Public Defender to accept further appointments because case overload and an evaluation of the Maryland Public Defender's office is given. |
| Operating a Defender Office – Participant’s Handbook (NCJ 66780) | Burke E. Dorworth, Laurence A. Benner, Nancy Albert Goldberg, Marshall J. Hartman, Harold S. Jacobson and Bonnie E. McFadden (University Research Corporation) | 1979 | National Institute of Justice (OJP) | This workshop handbook, part of the National Criminal Justice Executive Training Program, sets forth training programs for defender office managers to improve management and monitoring techniques. Topics include how defender offices can best organize, monitor, and manage the effective delivery of services to clients; budgeting; personnel administration; and external office relationships. |
| Operating a Defender Office – Trainer’s Handbook (NCJ 66551) | Burke E. Dorworth, Laurence A. Benner, Nancy Albert Goldberg, Marshall J. Hartman, Harold S. Jacobson, Bonnie E. McFadden (University Research Corporation) | 1979 | Law Enforcement Assistance Administration | This workshop handbook, part of the National Criminal Justice Executive Training Program, sets forth training programs for defender office managers to improve management and monitoring techniques. Topics include how defender offices can best organize, monitor, and manage for effective delivery of services to clients; budgeting; personnel administration; and external office relationships. |
| Predicting Erroneous Convictions: A Social Science Approach to Miscarriages of Justice (NCJ 241389) | Jon B. Gould (American University), Julia Carrano (American University), Richard Leo (University of San Francisco School of Law), Joseph Young (American University) | 2012 | National Institute of Justice (OJP) | This study examines why innocent people are wrongfully convicted in certain cases yet acquitted in others. The researchers studied 460 violent felonies that occurred between 1980 and 2012 to identify ten factors that led to a wrongful conviction of an innocent person instead of a dismissal or acquittal. The final report offers recommendations to help prevent erroneous convictions, including recommendations on defense practice, exculpatory evidence, eyewitness identification, false confessions, forensic error, police misconduct, weak prosecution evidence, systemic failures and tunnel vision. |
| Productivity and Resource Allocation in Prosecution and Public Defenders (NCJ 098920) | Joan E. Jacoby, E.C. Ratledge (Jefferson Institute for Justice Studies) | 1983 | National Institute of Justice (OJP) | This report discusses the inadequacy of productivity measures for many public delivery systems and issues associated with labor as an input productivity models and also reports on research that measured the amount of prosecutor and public defender effort in processing cases to completion. |
| Public Defender Programs: A Selected Bibliography (NCJ 49096) | Anthony A. Cain and Marjorie Kravitz (National Criminal Justice Reference Service) | 1978 | Law Enforcement Assistance Administration | This bibliography provides reference to works that review and evaluate the experiences of various public defenders systems. |
| Public Defense Reform Since Gideon: Improving the Administration of Justice By Building On Our Successes and Learning From Our Failures - A Public Defense Leadership Focus Group (NCJ 230794) | U.S. Department of Justice, Bureau of Justice Assistance; National Legal Aid & Defender Association; Bureau of Justice Assistance Criminal Courts Technical Assistance Project at American University | 2008 | Bureau of Justice Assistance (OJP) | This report provides a summary of focus group discussions held to review the successes and failures in the delivery of public defense services and assess the lessons learned resulting in recommendations for the future. |
| Report to the Nation on Crime and Justice: Second Edition (NCJ 105506) | Marianne W. Zawitz, ed. (U.S. Department of Justice, Bureau of Justice Statistics) | 1988 | Bureau of Justice Statistics (OJP) | This comprehensive report on crime includes an overview of the criminal event that examines how crimes are defined, the sources of crime statistics, the types of crime statistics and their significance, when and where crimes occur, what weapons are used in various types of crime, and 1980-1984 crime trends. |
| Report to the Nation on Crime and Justice: The Data (NCJ 87068) | Marianne W. Zawitz, editor (U.S. Department of Justice Bureau of Justice Statistics) | 1983 | Bureau of Justice Statistics (OJP) | The report is described as the first comprehensive picture of crime and justice in the United States. |
| State Government Indigent Defense Expenditures, FY 2008–2012 (NCJ 246684) | Erinn Herberman Ph.D. and Tracey Kyckelhahn, Ph.D., BJS Statisticians | 2014 | Bureau of Justice Statistics (OJP) |
Provides data on state government indigent defense expenditures as well as trends in spending and comparisons with total state government judicial-legal expenditures. The report uses administrative data from the U.S. Census Bureau’s Government Finance Survey and is a companion report to the Census Bureau's report, Indigent Defense Services in the United States: A Report Prepared for the Bureau of Justice Statistics. |
| The Anatomy of Discretion: An Analysis of Prosecutorial Decision Making – Technical Report(NCJ 240334) | Bruce Frederick (Vera Institute of Justice) and Don Stemen (Loyola University Chicago) | 2012 | National Institute of Justice (OJP) | Authors of this report followed two county prosecutors’ offices to examine the impact of legal, quasi-legal, and extra-legal factors on case outcomes throughout the prosecutorial process. The report identifies relationships, along with rules and resources, as contextual constraints that can trump prosecutorial evaluations of the strength and seriousness of the evidence and the defendant’s criminal history. While the report finds that prosecutors generally do not alter their decisions simply based on the relationship with the defense attorney, some newer ADAs expressed that a cooperative defense attorney would receive more cooperation from the prosecution, while an antagonistic relationship between the two could result in negative consequences , like less time to prepare, for the defense attorney. |
| The Executive Session on Public Defense, Bulletin #1: Bolder Management for Public Defense: Leadership in Three Dimensions (NCJ 187768) | Cait Clarke and Christopher Stone (Harvard University, John F. Kennedy School of Government) | 2001 | Bureau of Justice Assistance (OJP) | Using examples from around the Nation, this paper suggests ways in which managers of public defense services can lead their organizations and their field. |
| The Executive Session on Public Defense, Bulletin #2: What Policymakers Need To Know To Improve Public Defense Systems (NCJ 190725) | Tony Fabelo (Harvard University, John F. Kennedy School of Government) | 2001 | Bureau of Justice Assistance (OJP) | This paper is one in a series of papers developed by the Executive Session on Public Defense, a 30-member effort with leading figures in public defense. It sets out questions to aid policymakers in assessing the value and effectiveness of their public defense systems. |
| The Executive Session on Public Defense, Bulletin #3: Cultural Revolution: Transforming the Public Defender’s Office (NCJ 193773) | Robin Steinberg and David Feige (Harvard University, John F. Kennedy School of Government) | 2002 | Bureau of Justice Assistance (OJP) | This bulletin discusses basic values of the public defender culture in order to create a desire to re-evaluate these values and provide a set of concrete suggestions by which public defender managers can make an office model more holistic. |
| The Fair Defense Report: Findings and Recommendations on Indigent Defense Practices in Texas (link is external) | Texas Appleseed Fair Defense Project | 2000 | Bureau of Justice Assistance (OJP) |
This study of county-level indigent defense practices in Texas compares and evaluates the many different indigent defense systems across the state, to reveal their structural weaknesses and identify their strengths. |
| The Implementation and Impact of Indigent Defense Standards (NCJ 205023) | Scott Wallace and David Carroll (National Legal Aid & Defender Association) | 2003 | National Institute of Justice (OJP) | This report discusses the impact of indigent defense standards in assessing the need for standardization of this constitutionally mandated governmental service. |
| The Plight of the Indigent Accused in America - An Examination of Alternative Models for Providing Criminal Defense Services to the Poor: Executive Summary (NCJ 98678); Volume I - Complete Descriptive Report (NCJ 98679); Volume II - Policy-Makers' Repo... | Nancy Albert-Goldberg, Marshall J. Hartman, William J. Obrien, Pauline Houlden, and Steven Balkin (National Defender Institute) | 1981 | National Institute of Justice (OJP) | This report presents the findings, conclusions, and policy implications of the study of the Role of Private Counsel in Indigent Defense. The study provides practical information on the benefits, limitations, and costs of traditional assigned counsel programs and alternative programs |
| Title: Indigent Defense: DOJ Could Increase Awareness of Eligible Funding and Better Determine the Extent to Which Funds Help Support This Purpose (NCJ 238757) | The Government Accountability Office | 2012 | Government Accountability Office | This report addresses, for fiscal years 2005 through 2010, the (1) types of support DOJ provided for indigent defense; (2) extent to which eligible DOJ funding was allocated or awarded for indigent defense, the factors affecting these decisions, and DOJ’s actions to address them; (3) percentage of DOJ funding allocated for indigent defense and how it was used; (4) extent to which DOJ collects data on indigent defense funding; and (5) extent to which DOJ assesses the impacts of indigent defense grants, indigent defense programs have been evaluated, and DOJ has supported evaluation efforts. (NCJ 238757, May 2012) |
| Towards a Prosecutorial and Defense Production Function: Constructing a Measure of Output (NCJ 92952) | Edward C. Ratledge (Jefferson Institute for Justice Studies) | 1983 | National Institute of Justice (OJP) | This publication discusses potential methods for judging the output of prosecutor and public defender offices. |
| U.S. Department of Justice, Bureau of Justice Assistance and American Bar Association, Bar Information Program State Commissions Project: The Year in Review (The Spangenberg Report, Volume VI, Issue 3, Feb. 2001) (link is external) | David J. Carroll (The Spangenberg Group) | 2001 | Bureau of Justice Assistance (OJP) | This report has articles on individual states' indigent defense efforts, regional developments, and an international perspective. Articles topics include a release of a Texas indigent defense study, DOJ's release of Standards for Indigent Defense Systems, and the Iowa Indigent Defense Advisory Committee |
| Who’s Better at Defending Criminals? Does Type of Defense Attorney Matter in Terms of Producing Favorable Case Outcomes (link is external) | Thomas H. Cohen | 2011 | Bureau of Justice Statistics (OJP) | This paper examines whether there are differences between defense counsel type and the adjudication and sentencing phases of criminal case processing. Results show that private attorneys and public defenders secure similar adjudication and sentencing outcomes for their clients. Defendants with assigned counsel, however, receive less favorable outcomes compared to their counterparts with public defenders. This article concludes by discussing the policy implications of these findings and possible avenues for future research. |
| Working Paper: How Much Difference Does the Lawyer Make? The Effect of Defense Counsel on Murder Case Outcomes (link is external) | James M. Anderson and Paul Heaton (RAND Infrastructure, Safety, and Environment) | 2011 | National Institute of Justice (OJP) | This Philadelphia study finds that appointed counsel, public defenders reduce their clients’ murder conviction rate by 19%, lower the probability that their clients receive a life sentence by 62%, and reduce overall expected time served in prison by 24%. |
Date Created: December 11, 2019