The US Department of Justice (“DOJ”) filed a statement of interest in the case of Wilbur et al. v City of Mount Vernon et al. on August 14, 2013. The DOJ expressed strong support for the imposition of workload controls that will allow public defense attorneys to provide quality representation to indigent defendants. In the 1963 landmark ruling of Gideon v. Wainwright, the United States Supreme Court held that the right to counsel is a fundamental right under the Fourteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution and is binding on states and essential for a fair trial and due process of law.
Read US Attorney General Eric Holder’s August 22, 2013 Washington Post Op-Ed:
Defendants’ legal rights undermined by budget cuts