Statements on Introduced Bills and Joint Resolutions

Floor Speech

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Mr. BOOKER. Madam President, this Saturday, March 18, will mark the 60th anniversary of the unanimous and landmark Supreme Court decision in Gideon v. Wainwright, which held that every American has the constitutional right in criminal cases, regardless of their wealth and where they were born--they have a right, fundamentally, to the public defense system that we know today.

Before Gideon was decided, people accused of crimes were left to fend for themselves, having to navigate arraignments, plea bargains, jury decisions, trials, cross-examination of witnesses--every part of the criminal prosecution, they had to do it themselves while facing government prosecutors who had the legal upper hand.

Clarence Earl Gideon was a 51-year-old with an eighth grade education who ran away from home in middle school. History describes him as a ``drifter'' who spent time in and out of prison for nonviolent crimes, but history would also come to know him as someone who fundamentally transformed our legal system so that any person without resources accused of a crime has a due process right to a fair trial. You can't have a fair trial without counsel.

In 1961, Gideon was arrested for stealing $5 in change and beer, allegedly doing so from the Bay Harbor Poolroom in Panama City, FL. As James Baldwin would write the same year as Gideon's arrest, ``Anyone who has ever struggled with poverty knows how extremely expensive it is to be poor.''

Gideon, who had spent much of his life in poverty, was too poor to hire an attorney and asked the trial court to appoint one for him. The court denied his request, saying that only indigent defenders facing the death penalty are entitled to a lawyer.

Gideon assumed the burden of defending himself at trial, becoming his own lawyer. He made an opening statement to the jury and cross-examined the prosecution's witnesses. He presented witnesses in his own defense. He declined to testify himself and made arguments emphasizing his innocence.

Despite his valiant efforts, the jury found Gideon guilty of this $5 theft, and he was sentenced to 5 years' imprisonment. But Gideon felt he had been fundamentally deprived of his due process rights.

Determined to prove his innocence, Gideon penciled a five-page, handwritten petition asking the nine Justices of the Supreme Court to consider his case. Against all odds, the Supreme Court granted Gideon's petition.

Gideon would tell the Supreme Court:

It makes no difference how old I am or what color I am or which church I belong to, if any. The question is I did not get a fair trial. The question is very simple. I requested the court to appoint me [an] attorney and the court refused.

In the Court's unanimous decision, they held that ``reason and reflection require us to recognize that in our adversary system of criminal justice, any person haled into court, who is too poor to hire a lawyer, cannot be assured a fair trial unless counsel is provided for him.''

Gideon's case was sent back to the lower court, where he had a lawyer to defend him. It took the jury only 1 hour to come to a verdict and acquit him.

From that time on, the public defense system as we know it today came into existence. Folks who couldn't afford a lawyer 60 years ago are now guaranteed basic legal protection. Public defenders play a sacrosanct role in our society. Every one of America's public defenders embarks on the noble work that is the cornerstone of our legal system, ensuring that every citizen has a right to a fair trial, that every citizen has access to justice within the justice system.

Yet the promise of Gideon, the promise of this decision, still remains unfulfilled. The public defense is under such strain that in many places, it barely functions.

Justice Black declared that ``lawyers in criminal courts are necessities, not luxuries.'' But too often across our country, adequate legal representation is a luxury only afforded to those who are wealthy enough to hire a lawyer.

Despite their important and essential work to the cause of justice, public defenders carry crushing caseloads that strain their ability to meet their legal and ethical obligations to provide effective representation. According to a 2019 Brennan Center report, only 27 percent of county-based and 21 percent of State-based public defender offices have enough attorneys to adequately handle their caseloads. There are counties and States in America where public defenders are responsible for more than 200 cases at one time.

The quality of public defenders also varies from State to State, town to town, case to case. Compared to prosecutors and other attorneys, public defenders are woefully underresourced and underpaid. That is why today, with my friend and colleague from Illinois, Senator Durbin, I am introducing the Providing a Quality Defense Act to provide funding to local governments to hire more public defenders so that those accused of crimes can receive adequate representation.

The bill will provide funding to increase salaries for public defenders so that they can have pay parity with the prosecutors they face. It will require the Department of Justice to conduct evidence-based studies and make recommendations for appropriate caseloads for public defenders and for adequate compensation.

Public defenders don't just represent their clients with zealous advocacy; they get to know their clients and see the impact of convictions on their families and loved ones. This experience is invaluable and helps to inform sentencing should there be a conviction. However, unlike the majority of State sentencing commissions, the U.S. Sentencing Commission, an independent Agency tasked with establishing sentencing policies and practices for the Federal court, lacks a representative from a public defender background who would provide an essential perspective on the criminal justice system.

Today, again, along with Senator Durbin, I am reintroducing the Sentencing Commission Improvements Act to add a member to the U.S. Sentencing Commission with a public defender background who will bring a new and valuable perspective to the Commission.

I urge my colleagues to support both of these bills, which will bring us one step closer to a justice system that is fairer, more humane, and more just. Such a criminal justice system is part of the legacy of a so-called drifter, a 51-year-old who spoke truth to power, who challenged a system that seemed impossible to beat, who challenged the very idea of what it means to have a just justice system. If the moral arc of the universe bends towards justice, then Clarence Earl Gideon is one of the arc benders.

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