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Pennsylvania State Senate
09/20/2024 01:08 AM
Pennsylvania State Senate
https://www.legis.state.pa.us/cfdocs/Legis/CSM/showMemoPublic.cfm?chamber=S&SPick=20190&cosponId=31415
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Senate of Pennsylvania
Session of 2019 - 2020 Regular Session

MEMORANDUM

Posted: March 12, 2020 01:56 PM
From: Senator Art Haywood
To: All Senate members
Subject: Public Defender Day
 
Please join me in co-sponsoring a resolution designating 24 March 2020 “Public Defender Day” in Pennsylvania.

The landmark 1963 US Supreme Court case Gideon v. Wainwright ruled that the Sixth Amendment of the Bill of Rights requires the government to provide free legal counsel to indigent defendants in criminal cases.

The 1968 Pennsylvania Public Defender Act established public defenders in each county to provide legal counsel to those who need it in any criminal action where representation is constitutionally guaranteed. Public defenders can represent clients in adult and juvenile state courts, at civil and criminal mental health hearings, and act as child advocates for children with open dependent petitions.

This is an opportunity for all of us to celebrate the right to counsel and recognize the public defenders who have dedicated their lives to provide dignity, justice and fairness to those in need in the criminal court system.

Thank you for considering co-sponsoring this resolution. ​