Today is the 50th Anniversary of Gideon v. Wainwright, the 1963 Supreme Court decision that ensures that every person charged with a crime is entitled to an attorney even if he/she cannot afford one.
How does the promise of Gideon hold up a half century after the ruling?
 
Guests:
Roopal Patel, Fellow at the Brennan Center’s Justice Program and former attorney with the Department of Justice
 
Jonathan Rapping, President/Founder of the Southern Public Defender Training Center and Director of Criminal Justice Program at John Marshall Law School
 
Karen Houppert, Journalist and Author of Chasing Gideon: The Elusive Quest for Poor People’s Justice
 
Andrew Ferguson, Professor of Law at the University of the District of Columbia and former public defender
 
David Carroll, Executive Director of the Sixth Amendment Center
 
Avis Buchanan, Director of the Public Defender Service for the District of Columbia