Discussion Questions on Indigent Defense Systems - Law Paper Example

Gideon v. Wainwright (p. 254) required the government to provide defense attorneys for indigent defendants. Using the textbook and the internet, answer the following questions in a narrative, paragraph style. Assume that you have been charged with a felony offense and cannot afford to hire an attorney to represent you.

Is your time best spent reading someone else’s essay? Get a 100% original essay FROM A CERTIFIED WRITER!

Order now

1) Identify and describe at least three types of indigent defense systems used in courts today.

Public defendant programs.

This defense system uses a public lawyer. A public defender is a lawyer appointed by the courts to defend people who are not able to defend themselves. In 1963 this law was amended by the United States Supreme Court. The public defendant is a literal translation of Spanish language. In the world, Brazil is the only country which has created an office where lawyers are paid for representing and offering legal assistance to people with low income. As stated earlier in the discussion, US also formed and adopted this law in 1963 in the sixth amendment. The purpose of this law is to ensure each and every person gets fair judgment dispute their financial stators. Today, many other countries provide individuals with the public defender.

Private court-appointed attorneys

The system involves criminal defendant represented entirely by the court-appointed lawyers. This is an attorney who is appointed by the Supreme Court and are paid by the government. The reason why criminal enjoys this representation is that they cannot afford their attorney but have a right to proper representation. When the offender is found to be legally indigent, it becomes the responsibility of the court to provide them with representation at the expense of the government but only if jail or prison is the assured outcome of the case.

The third indigence system is Hybrid programs. In this, the private attorneys offer their services efficiently by providing indigent defense.

This involves providing an attorney to serving the public as a public defender and paid by the government. This private attorney is paid by the government when they defend a client successfully, but when the case is not successful, they are not paid.

Which one of these systems would you prefer for your representation? Why?

I would prefer Hybrid programs.

The problem with this public representation is a possibly underfunded approach. This result to undefined representation by an attorney. According to research done by the vice president Georgia trial lawyers, the result found out that many defendants were not receiving an adequate representation because other system favors the lawyer. The research reveals that for the appointed public attorney, the payment is assured whether the case is well represented or not. The other two system guarantees an assurance to the lawyer and not the defendant.

2) The textbook states, Gideon v. Wainwright (1963) has been described as the cause of the single biggest change in the history of the U.S. criminal justice system. Using the text and the internet, what are some of the impacts of this decision on our court system? What can our system do to be able to comply with the Gideon decision?

Background of Gideon v. Wainwright.

Gideon was charged in Florida court with a felony offense. When he appears in court, he did not have a lawyer to defend and present him because of lack of finance. Gideon requested the court to look for a lawyer for him but was told that he does not qualify to get a lawyer because only capital offenders could be represented. Gideon later describes himself during the trial. He was found guilty and send to prison for five years. After the ruling, he appealed to the court of appeal, and in 1963, the Supreme Court ruled in favor of Gideon giving him right to legal counsel representation after this decision he was acquainted after being tried for the second time.

After this case, the Supreme Court ruled that the Constitution requires that the country requires that all the defender should be provided with defense attorney especially those charged with a serious offense.

The decision has changed a lot in the United States court system. The court has held that sixth amendment is guaranteeing counsel and right essential to a fair trial. Any trial in court must go through the due process and fair representation. The system has also made reasoning judgment in criminal justice. To help implement and maintain this decision, the United States must work together with the government. The government must work together to finance and support the judiciary.