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Indigent Defense

A collage shows a color photo of the exterior of a jail, with visible barbed wire, within the outline of Pike County. In the background are a map of Mississippi, text from federal filings and black-and-white photos of a water tower reading “Magnolia” and a “Prisoner loading and unloading only” sign.
Jackson May 2
Mississippi Lawmakers Considered Modest Public Defense Reforms. They Rejected All of Them.
With its refusal to impose oversight or consistent standards in local defense, Mississippi risks falling further behind the rest of the U.S., critics say.
By
A person walks down the steps of a looming courthouse, while hundred dollar bills that are the same size and scale as the courthouse columns fly off to the right.
Feature February 12
If You Can’t Afford an Attorney, One Will Be Appointed. And You May Get a Huge Bill
In Iowa, people too poor to pay for a lawyer are on the hook for big fees they can’t afford.
By Lauren Gill and
An illustration shows an outline of a lawyer raising their arm up while holding a document. The lawyer stands in front of a judge, who is also holding a gavel. People in orange prison uniforms stand in the foreground.
Jackson September 18, 2023
Mississippi Courts Won’t Say How They Provide Lawyers for Poor Clients
Six years ago, the Mississippi Supreme Court told judges around the state to file plans showing how they meet their obligations to poor defendants. So far, only one has.
By , Northeast Mississippi Daily Journal
Jackson July 5, 2023
Mississippi Says Poor Defendants Must Always Have a Lawyer. Few Courts Are Ready to Deliver
A rule requiring poor criminal defendants to have a lawyer throughout the criminal process took effect Saturday.
By , Northeast Mississippi Daily Journal
A group of Supreme Court justices sitting at a raised bench while an attorney speaks at a podium.
News April 14, 2023
Some Are Jailed in Mississippi for Months Without a Lawyer. A Court Just Barred That.
The Mississippi Supreme Court moved to end the “dead zone” before indictment in a notoriously dysfunctional public defender system.
By and Taylor Vance
Feature May 22, 2021
Life Without Parole Is Replacing the Death Penalty — But the Legal Defense System Hasn’t Kept Up
Just ask a Dallas woman who spent a year in jail without talking to a lawyer.
By
Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg sits in her chambers in 2002 in Washington, DC.
Analysis September 23, 2020
RBG’s Mixed Record on Race and Criminal Justice
Ruth Bader Ginsburg was a revered feminist icon. Her legacy on issues such as prisoners’ rights, capital punishment, racial justice and tribal sovereignty has been less examined.
By Marshall Project Staff
News August 1, 2019
One Lawyer. Five Years. 3,802 Cases.
In Detroit, court-appointed lawyers for the poor are encouraged to take on large caseloads at the expense of their clients, a new report says.
By
Perry at her gun shop in Boise, Idaho
Feature September 24, 2017
How Conservatives Learned to Love Free Lawyers for the Poor
By reframing the issue around the evils of big government, Republicans are notching victories that have eluded more liberal legislatures.
By
Feature September 9, 2016
When There’s Only One Public Defender in Town
Meet Rhonda Covington, the one-woman office.
By
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