Strong Week for the Wisconsin Criminal Law System
3L Ron Tusler forwards an important bit of news regarding the Wisconsin criminal justice system:
Governor Doyle recognized on Monday that Wisconsin needs to do more to comply with the Sixth and Fourteenth Amendment. The Sixth Amendment requires that “in all criminal prosecutions, the accused shall enjoy the right . . . to have the Assistance of Counsel for his defense.” Gideon v. Wainwright applied the Sixth Amendment to the states as a fundamental due process right. 372 U.S. 335 (1963). The Gideon Court did not define indigency and the states are free to define it as they will.
Until Governor Doyle signed Senate Bill 263 into law, Wisconsin held an extremely low income threshold set in 1987. As a student practitioner at the Outagamie County Public Defender’s Office last summer, the state required me to turn down individuals with less than $100 income per month. Imagine telling someone with so little income that they were too wealthy for help. That is a message many public defenders must deliver every day. Imagine how many go on to inadequately represent themselves pro se. Is that Constitutional? I doubt the Gideon Court would approve.