Georgetown Law Library

Indigent Criminal Defense Research Guide

Created in recognition of the 50th anniversary of the Supreme Court's landmark decision in Gideon v. Wainwright, this research guide collects sources related to the history, development, and current state of indigent criminal defense in the United States.

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After Gideon

Post-Gideon Cases
- Argersinger v. Hamlin, 407 U.S. 25 (1972)
  Held that a defendant may not be subjected to imprisonment without the aid of counsel, regardless of whether the offense was a misdemeanor or felony, and regardless of whether the offense qualified for a jury trial.
- Scott v. Illinois, 440 U.S. 367 (1979)
  Held that the state was not obligated to provide counsel when the conviction did not result in actual imprisonment, despite the fact that imprisonment was a potential penalty.
- Massiah v. United States, 377 U.S. 201 (1964)
  Held that the right to counsel attaches when a suspect is indicted.
- Alabama v. Shelton, 535 U.S. 654 (2002)
  The right to counsel attaches when a court imposes a suspended prison sentence.
- Rothgery v. Gillespie County, 554 U.S. 191 (2008)
  The right to counsel attached at the time of an initial hearing, when a defendant learned of the potential loss of liberty under the charges.

Post-Gideon scholarship
- Gideon's Promise Unfulfilled: The Need for Litigated Reform of Indigent Defense, 113 Harvard Law Review 2062–2079 (2000).
- Tracey L. Meares, What's Wrong with Gideon, 70 The University of Chicago Law Review 215–231 (2003).
- Lee Silverstein, Defense of the Poor in Criminal Cases in American State Courts, 3 vols (1965)KF9646.Z95 A4 1965
- Robert L. Spangenberg & Marea L. Beeman, Indigent Defense Systems in the United States, 58Law and Contemporary Problems 31–49 (1995), (last visited Feb 4, 2013).

Post-Gideon Original Source Documents
- General Charles L. Decker/NLADA Collection, SPECL, manuscript collections.
  
  General Charles L. Decker (1906-1983) directed the NLADA National Defender Project from 1963 until 1971. The project, which was funded by the Ford Foundation, had been conceptualized prior to the Gideon v. Wainwright decision, and was charged with surveying existing defender systems, and with establishing demonstration defender programs and new defender offices or systems in areas where none existed, as well as with improving existing defender offices or systems. Decker, a Georgetown Law alumnus, donated his extensive papers documenting the National Defender Project, as well as some of his personal papers, to the GULL.
- The NEJL also houses collections from several former directors of the NLADA Defender Division, and from other advocates in the public defender movement, including:
- - Mary M. Broderick Papers (NEJL 055)
  - Cait Clarke Papers (NEJL 056)
  - James Doherty Papers (NEJL 054)
  - Nancy Albert Goldberg Papers (NEJL-028)
  - Marshall Hartman Papers (NEJL 059)
  - Sheldon Portman Papers (NEJL 054)
  - Richard Wilson Papers (NEJL 003)
Public Defenders and Court Appointment Systems

Training Resources
- National Defender Leadership Institute (NDLI)
- The Southern Public Defender Training Center/Southern Center for Human Rights

Statistical Information
- Bureau of Justice Statistics: Indigent Defense Systems