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Public Defenders

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
An illustration shows a Black man wearing a red jail jumpsuit and handcuffs standing next to a Black woman lawyer in a black skirt suit. Other defendants in jumpsuits sit around them, beside translucent outlines of lawyers.
Jackson February 22
This Mississippi Court Appoints Lawyers for Just 1 in 5 Defendants Before Indictment
Mississippi is known as one of the worst states for public defense. In one lower court, most defendants went without any lawyer before indictment.
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
Jackson October 19, 2023
Justice Says Mississippi Court Rule to Give Poor Defendants Lawyers Isn’t Working
And there isn’t much the court can do to enforce it, the Supreme Court justice said in a hearing focused on the state’s public defense woes.
By
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
A Black man, wearing a KN95 mask, red shirt, red cap and camo pants, reviews a document while sitting in a courtroom.
Closing Argument July 15
For Many, a Lawyer Is a Luxury Out of Reach
Sixty years after a landmark Supreme Court ruling, the promise of legal representation for everyone is largely unrealized.
By
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
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
Feature August 20, 2020
Two Families, Two Fates: When the Misdiagnosis Is Child Abuse
The power of child-abuse pediatric specialists and parents’ unequal journey toward justice
By Stephanie Clifford
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