Today marks the 60th anniversary of Gideon v. Wainwright, the Supreme Court’s landmark decision on the right to counsel. In Gideon, the Court found that “reason and reflection require us to recognize that in our adversary system of criminal justice, any person haled into court, who is too poor to hire a lawyer, cannot be assured a fair trial unless counsel is provided.” Despite Gideon’s recognition that lawyers in criminal courts “are necessities, not luxuries,” our failure to provide adequate representation to defendants in our criminal courts has been well documented.
There was something conspicuously absent from the courtroom when the Supreme Court heard arguments in Twitter v. Taamneh last week. For decades now, the...
The “Notwithstanding Clause,” the common name for section 33 of Canada’s Charter of Rights and Freedoms—the country’s constitutional bill of rights—authorizes time-bound legislation that...
The Supreme Court’s conservative Justices unapologetically asserted their power this term. Over one week in June, they eliminated the constitutional right to abortion, expanded...
During oral argument in Dobbs v. Jackson, the Supreme Court case challenging Mississippi’s attempt to prohibit pre-viability abortions, Justice Coney Barrett called the attention...
The war in Ukraine presents three issues salient to the disability community: Reports of the Russian military targeting facilities where disabled people may reside...
