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Full-Text Articles in Legal Profession
The Aba Guidelines And The Norms Of Capital Defense Representation, Russell Stetler, W. Bradley Wendel
The Aba Guidelines And The Norms Of Capital Defense Representation, Russell Stetler, W. Bradley Wendel
W. Bradley Wendel
The ABA Guidelines for the Appointment and Performance of Defense Counsel in Death Penalty Cases (“Guidelines”), as revised in 2003, continue to stand as the single most authoritative summary of the prevailing professional norms in the realm of capital defense practice. Hundreds of court opinions have cited the Guidelines. They have been particularly useful in helping courts to assess the investigation and presentation of mitigating evidence in death penalty cases. This Article will discuss how these Guidelines have come to reflect prevailing professional norms in this critical area of capital defense practice and how that practice has developed in the …
The Perilous Psychology Of Public Defending, Scott Howe
The Perilous Psychology Of Public Defending, Scott Howe
Scott W. Howe
This article examining the ethical challenges confronting most public defender attorneys is framed as a fictional talk presented by P.D. Atty, a former public defender attorney, at a small conference of new public defender attorneys. The presentation asserts that public defenders typically face psychological obstacles to providing zealous advocacy for all of their clients and that an essential aspect of the remedy starts with recognition of these psychological barriers. The author contends that these challenges relate to a typically unacknowledged aversion to representing certain kinds of criminal defendants. Contrary to common supposition, the strongest aversion is not to representation of …