The state’s safety net for criminal defendants who can’t afford an attorney is no longer in crisis. Pay increases have slowed attorney resignations. Fewer people are waiting for a lawyer, and the wait ...

Commentaries are opinion pieces contributed by readers and newsmakers. VTDigger strives to publish a variety of views from a broad range of Vermonters. Commentaries give voice to community members and ...

Last week marked the 50th anniversary of the Supreme Court’s unanimous decision in Gideon v. Wainwright, in which the court held that state governments—like the federal government—are constitutionally ...

Clark County is considering establishing a public defenders office rather than contracting with local attorneys to provide for indigent defense. At left, Clark County Prosecuting Attorney Tony Golik ...

A Maine Superior Court Justice has rejected the settlement in a class-action lawsuit claiming Maine has failed its constitutional duty to provide legal representation to the poor, saying the proposed ...

A government panel plans to look at potential ways that poor people accused of committing crimes in South Dakota can have state-funded attorneys represent them when ...