Millions of people every year cannot adequately defend themselves against criminal charges because their lawyers are overburdened, under-resourced, and plagued by systemic conflicts of interest. The Indigent Defense Initiative challenges this entrenched unconstitutional system using groundbreaking litigation and advocacy.
Starting in Galveston, Texas, we are fighting to ensure the effective assistance of counsel for indigent people charged with crimes. In this case, we represent a defense attorney who was unjustly removed from the appointments list.
In Montgomery County, Pennsylvania, Civil Rights Corps is fighting to protect the independence of public defenders who provide counsel to poor people in the legal system.
In Santa Clara County, CA, we sent a letter to District Attorney Jeffery Rosen demanding he stop a campaign of retaliation against Sajid Khan, a public defender, simply for speaking out against systems of injustice.
Civil Rights Corps is supporting legislation that would create an independent office to provide legal services to poor people in the Texas prison system who are charged with crimes.