The following is an excerpt from an article on GJP written by Amy Uelemen which appeared in the August/September 2004 issue of livingCity magazine.

Read the full article on the livingCity web site:

http://www.livingcitymagazine.com/2004_08_Georgia.html

"Looking at the host of problems surrounding legal representation for the poor who have been charged with a crime, there seems to be little hope. It is not so much because their legal rights are undefined. As the United States Supreme Court decided in 1963, the Sixth Amendment to the U.S. Constitution requires states to provide counsel to indigent defendants charged with serious crimes."

"It is not even because the legal system fails to recognize how important it is to assure adequate defense for the poor. “If we do not adequately support criminal defense for poor Americans,” as former attorney general Janet Reno stated in a national report on indigent defense, 1 “people will think that you can only get justice if you can afford to pay a lawyer. This perception would undermine confidence in our system.” Similarly, law enforcement also has a strong interest in insuring adequate defense for the indigent. As Reno explained, “Skimping on adequate representation also hurts effective law enforcement by creating delays and leading to the reversal of convictions on appeal.” "