robert kennedy speech- gideon

8/13/2019 Robert Kennedy Speech- Gideon

1/7

~ t p r t m t n t ~ u 5 t i t t

DDRESSBY

HONORABLE ROBERr :K E1 mEDYATTORNEY GENERAL OF THE UNITED STATES

PREPARED FOR DELIVERYEFORE THE

THE NEW ENGL ND CONFERENCE ON THEDEFENSE OF INDIGENT PERSONS CCUSED

OF CRIME

P RKER HOUSEOSTON M SS CHUSETTS

FBIDAY NOVEMBER 963

psbb8 o

- ~ 1 : e ~ ~ . P - ; _


2/7


3/7

But Gideon d i d w r r t ~ t h ~ l e t t e r the court did look into his case;he was retried with the .help .of a competent defense counsel found not guiltyand released from prison after two years of punishment for a crime he didnot commit and the whole o u ~ s of American legal history has been changed.I know of few better examples than that of a democratic principle inaction.Yet the broad sweep of the Gideon decision seems to have aroused anatmosphere of crisis in many legal quarters. The Department of Justicerecognizes that in t s role as the criminal prosecutor for the FederalGovernment t has a special responsibility for the development of proceduresthat will result in an adequate defense of all indigent persons accused ofcrime.e have endeavored to look at the problem in t s broadest aspects anddetermine a ll the elements involved in the concept of an adequate defense.Early in 1961 I appointed a committee of distinguished judges lawyersand teachers under the direction of Professor Francis A. Allen of theUniversity of Michigan Law School to study the problem of poverty and theAdministration of Federal criminal justice.In March 1963 the Allen Committee filed and published t s report andI am sure many of you are familiar with t s contents.As a result of this study the Justice Department prepared a draft bil lwhich has come to be known as the Criminal Justice Bill of 1963.This Bill w s transmitted to the Congress by the President with astrong message urging t s enactment. t was introduced with bipartisan support in the Senate by SenatorsEastland Hruska and Erwin and by Congressman Celler in the House.The stated purpose of the b ill is to promote the cause of criminaljustice by providing for the representation of defendants who are financiallyunable to obtain an adequate defense in criminal cases in the courts of theUnited States.Several features of the bil l deserve particular emphasis.First the local option provision confers upon the district and circuitjudges broad discretion to select the plan b y which their courts will furnishcompensated representation to qualified defendants.Four choices are authorized:Private attorneys; the public defender; legal aid societies or localdefender organizations; or any combination of these.


4/7

- J -he relative advantages of the various systems for a.particular localityare weighed and determined by those b es t q ua li fi ed to judge them--the localjudiciary. Depending upon local conditions and philosophies they m y electthe system best suited to their community.Second, the b i l l establishes an adequate defense standard under whichrepresentation in a criminal case is recognized as ,involving more than alawyer alone. t requires making a va ila ble t o counsel those auxiliary in-vestigative , expert and other services frequently essential to ascertainingthe facts and making the judgments upon which to prepare and present th edefendant s case.Third, the provision guaranteeing counsel a t every stange of the pro-ceedings, commencing with the initial appearance before the commissioner,is designed to afford representation to each defendant throughout his in-volvment in the judicial process. t insures that the advice of counsel will be available at the criticalearly stages when recollections are fresh and t he o pp or tu ni ty to uncoverevidence is greatest.Finally the prqposal limits the benefits of the statute to personsfinancially unable to. obtain an adequate defense. he term indigency isavoided because of t s implication that only an accused who is destitute

m y need appointed counselor services.Experience m o n s t r ~ t s that m ny persons have resources sufficientto defray part bu t not a ll of the expenses of their defense.In order that representation m y be furnished to the extent of eachdefendant s need, we have proposed that partial payments m y be requiredand that th e s ta tu te s ha ll become operative a t whatever stage of tn e pro-ceedings the accused is found financially mabIe to o btainc on na el orservices necessary to an adequate defense.he Criminal Justice Bill (S.1057) .passedtheSenate substantially inthe form introduced. Provision w s made, however, to limit th e public de -fender option to those judicial districts in which the appointment of counselis required in 150 or more cases a year.In the House, the Bill (H.R. 4816) has been, reported by the JudiciaryCommittee. he most significant change by the Committee w s th e eliminationof the public defender option.I m hopeful however, for enactment of the Bill substantially in theform passed in t he Senate.I want to emphasize that the Criminal Justice Bill is drafted to permitclose cooperation between the state and the Federal judiciary th e appointment of counsel for indigent defendants wherever this i s practical anddesired.


5/7

- 4 I ;For example, t ~ Bill would no t prohibit the use by t he F ede ra l andstate judiciaries of th e same legal aid society or other legal defenderorganizations. . .I a ntic ip ate , i n fact, the development of a very: close relationshipbetween the Federal and s tate courts in the entire area of poverty and theadministration ? f criminal ju.stice.The Allen Committee-recognized that the concept of an adequate defenseinvolved more than the mere appointment of counsel to appear on behalf ofa defendant when he is tried. The Committee recommended that the Departmentof Justice undertake to stuqy the problem of bail procedures as they relateto the f air arid equal administration of justice to rich and poor alike.In acting on this recommendation I recently asked r ~ Justice Brennanof the Supreme Court , Louis Schweitzer, P re si de nt o f the Vera Foundationof New York, and 18 other law enforcement authorities to meet a t theDepartment of Justice for a planning conference for the National Conferenceon Bail and Criminal Justice scheduled for next spring. t will be sponsored by the Department of Justice and the Vera Foundation.The studies of the Manhattan Bail Project show the tremendous influenceof pre-trial freedom on a defendant s eventual acquittal or c onvi ct ion.For example, a recent survey of defendants charged with simple assaultshowed that of those who had been free on bail only 22 percent were foundguilty while 71 percent of those who had to remain in ja il were convicted.Again in petit l ar ce ny c as es , 51 percent of those a t liberty before

tri l were convici.ed while 83 percent of those behind bars were convicted.In unlawful entry cases the same pattern showed 23 percent convictionsof those a t liberty and 75 percent convictions o f those in j a i l .These studies also indicate that many defendants are unable to post

even a modest bail. In a study made in New York 28 per cent of the defendants could no t post 500 bail and 45 percent were unable to make bail seta t 2,000. . . .The primary purpose of requiring a defendant to post bail is to insurehis presence before the court whenever required. Studies indicate, however,that there i s l i t t le i f any correlation between appearance or non-appearancein court and release with or without bail .A recent survey in th e Northern District o f C al if or ni a (San FranciscoDivision revealed that only 2 percent of_persons released without bail

failed to appear.In this sarne District in Ca lifo rn ia re ce ntly 41 persons were releasedwithout bail and none failed to appear.


6/7

During the course of the Manhattan u ~ 800 defendants were releasedon their own recognizance. Of these, 99 percent appeared in court whenrequired. 0nlt 8 individuals failed to appear. .An aspect of this problem which requires u ~ and will be considered the National Conference on Bail and Criminal Justice is the role of theprofessional bondsman. Often the .defendant has money andcollateral andis unable to purchase a bail bond because the bondsman refUses to write i tIn a recent opinion of the Court of Appeals for the District of ColumbiaJudge Skelly Wright said:The effect of such a system is that professional bondsmen holdthe keys to the jai l in their pockets the bad risks, in the bondsmen sjudgment and the ones who are unable to pay the bondsmen s fees, remain in

jail .The court and the commissioner are relegated to the relatively unimportant chore of fixing the amount of bail encouragement to appear (incourt) should not be in the form of loss of the bondsman s money but ratherin loss of the defendant s liberty. The consequences of pretrial detention are obvious. The defendant whois free on b i lor released on his own recognizance has the advantage ofbeing able to participate actively in the preparation of his defense.Last March I instructed ll United States Attorneys and their assistants to recommend the release of defendants on their own recognizance whenno substantial risk is involved and this has been done throughout thecountry without any problem.I know that your conference has been a meaningful and effective one andthat i t will lead to a greater awareness here in New England of the dangerswhich poverty imposes upon our system of justice.But I hope that your conference will be.even more--a beacon which willkeynote increased action to help indigent defendants throughout the country.Lord Acton said:Laws should be adopt ed to those who have the heavies t stake in thecountry for whom misgovernment means not mortified pr ide or stinted luxuries, but want and pain, and degradation and risk to their own lives andto their children s souls.So I hope you will support with deed and word the criminal justicelegislation now before Congress and any other steps that can e taken.But effective legislation is only part of the story. Furnishing counselto the indigent accused will only pay lip service to the Constitution i flawyers are not competent to perform their service--and no one can legislateprofessional competence or professional dedication to duty.


7/7

6 -I f the principles l a i d ddwn by the Gideon decision ~ e tobecome ameaningful standard in ou r nation s c o u r ~ s deep and Widesprea.dresurgenceof interest in the practice of criminal law i s essential.The vita l i ty .of ou r a d v e r ~ a r Y s Y s t e m - ~ t h e very o survi ~ a ] of oU r beliefin democratic justice--will depend t a grep,tl;lr and greater extent on theinfusion of skilled advocacy i r our cr4ninal t r ia ls . That i t seems to mei s our major challenge. ,To you of th e courts the law schools and the profession I offer theJustice Department s pledge of f u l l cooperation in meeting that challenge.

I __ ,

;

robert kennedy speech- gideon

Documents