Law Commons^™

When The Cheering (For Gideon ) Stops: The Defense Bar And Representation At Initial Bail Hearings, Douglas Colbert

Douglas L. Colbert

This article suggests that the absence of representation at the beginning of a State criminal prosecution must come to a screeching halt. The criminal defense bar should take a leadership role and dedicate Gideon's anniversary to making certain that an accused's right to the effective assistance of counsel begins at the initial bail hearing. Indeed, guaranteeing vigorous representation should be the defense bar's number one priority.

Clinical Professors' Professional Responsibility: Preparing Law Students To Embrace Pro Bono, Douglas L. Colbert

Douglas L. Colbert

This article begins by examining the current crisis in the U.S. legal system where approximately three out of four low- and middle-income litigants are denied access to counsel's representation when faced with the loss of essential rights - -a home, child custody, liberty and deportation - - and where most lawyers decline to fulfill their ethical responsibility of pro bono service to those who cannot afford private counsel. The article traces the evolving ethical standards of a lawyer's professional responsibility that today views every attorney as a public citizen having a special responsibility to the quality of justice.

The author …

Prosecution Without Representation, Douglas L. Colbert

Douglas L. Colbert

Nearly 50 years after the Supreme Court's landmark ruling in Gideon v. Wainwright established indigent defendants' constitutional right to counsel, poor people throughout the country still remain without a lawyer when first appearing before a judicial officer who determines pretrial liberty or bail. Absent counsel, low-income defendants unable to afford bail remain in jail for periods ranging from 3-70 days until assigned counsel appears in-court. Examining Walter Rothgery's wrongful prosecution, the article includes a national survey that informs readers about the limited right to counsel at the initial appearance and the extent of delay in each of the 50 states. …

It's Not Funny: Creating A Professional Culture Of Pro Bono Commitment, Douglas L. Colbert

Douglas L. Colbert

Professor Colbert challenges the popular view that regards lawyers as selfish, greedy and uncaring to the legal needs of the outside community. In his article, he recognizes that the lawyers with whom he is familiar are fulfilling the lawyer’s ethical obligation of engaging in pro bono service and “provid[ing] legal services to those unable to pay,” while also embracing the language in the Preamble to the Model Rules of Professional Conduct that refers to the attorney “as a public citizen who has a special responsibility to the quality of justice.” Professor Colbert asks colleagues in the legal academy whether they …

Affirming The Thirteenth Amendment, Douglas L. Colbert

Douglas L. Colbert

No abstract provided.

Do Attorneys Really Matter? The Empirical And Legal Case For The Right Of Counsel At Bail, Douglas L. Colbert, Raymond Paternoster, Shawn Bushway

Douglas L. Colbert

No abstract provided.

Broadening Scholarship: Embracing Law Reform And Justice, Douglas L. Colbert

Douglas L. Colbert

No abstract provided.

Liberating The Thirteenth Amendment, Douglas L. Colbert

Douglas L. Colbert

No abstract provided.

The Motion In Limine In Politically Sensitive Cases: Silencing The Defendant At Trial, Douglas L. Colbert

Douglas L. Colbert

No abstract provided.

Bifurcation Of Civil Rights Defendants: Undermining Monell In Police Brutality Cases, Douglas L. Colbert

Douglas L. Colbert

No abstract provided.

Connecting Theory And Reality: Teaching Gideon And Indigent Defendants' Non-Right To Counsel At Bail, Douglas L. Colbert

Douglas L. Colbert

In my article, I critique criminal procedure textbooks' and law professors' limited treatment of the constitutional right to counsel at the bail stage. While explaining that casebook authors usually praise the Supreme Court's landmark decisions in Gideon v. Wainwright and Argersinger v. Hamlin for guaranteeing trial counsel to indigent state defendants, I suggest that they shed minimal light on Gideon's irrelevance to most state defendants when they first appear before a judicial officer. Reviewing leading criminal procedure casebooks, I demonstrate that it is the rare text which informs law students that accused defendants should not expect to find a defense …

Coming Soon To A Court Near You – Convicting The Unrepresented At The Bail Stage: An Autopsy Of A State High Court’S Sua Sponte Rejection Of Indigent Defendants’ Right To Counsel, Douglas L. Colbert

Douglas L. Colbert

Recently, the Maryland Court of Appeals became the first state court of last resort to reject Gideon v. Wainwright’s guarantee of counsel at the bail stage. In ruling sua sponte that bail is not a critical stage entitling indigent defendants to invoke their constitutional right to counsel, the Fenner Court held that statements offered by an unrepresented and non-Mirandized indigent defendant were admissible at trial. I contend that the Fenner ruling may transform the pretrial fact-gathering process by providing prosecutors with an additional source of evidence against indigent defendants, namely statements made at a judicial proceeding for the purpose of …

The Motion In Limine:Trial Without Jury - A Government's Weapon Against The Sanctuary Movement, Douglas L. Colbert

Douglas L. Colbert

No abstract provided.