Gideon Vs Wainwright Case Analysis

The legal system of the United States has been overwhelmed by underfunding and excessive caseloads, which has placed a substantial burden on public defenders. Unfortunately, public defenders are the hardest working attorneys and sector of the legal system because they are severely understaffed. Therefore, they are represented by public defenders, which is a granted constitutional right in the case of Gideon v. Wainwright. This case specified that states are required to provide defense attorneys to defendants convicted of a felony or serious crime that cannot provide attorney representation for themselves. According to Brunt (2015), “approximately 80% of the offenders that are charged with a felony are indigent.” This is a relatively large number
This could possibly be the solution to many of the problems that overwhelm the legal system. If there is more financial resources to hire public defenders, it could reduce the number of caseloads and relieve the level of stress that is exhibited by current attorneys. Thus, offenders will be more likely to receive effective legal representation and not be wrongfully convicted. The cost of hiring additional public defenders should be covered by both the state and federal governments. In the course textbooks it states that, “the problem of out of control caseloads is in state courts, not in federal courts where funding has long been greater than among states (Neubauer & Fradella, 2015).” Based on my interpretation of the quote, it appears that the federal government is financial suitable to cover some of cost of hiring public defenders even though it is the state’s responsibility. The federal government could allocate some form of grant money to help with the cost. Lastly, how states are classify offenders as either indigent or partial indigent. Those that are partial indigent are required to pay a small fee for the service of public defenders. This also helps covers some of the