Conferences & Symposia

Gideon at Fifty: Fulfilling the Promise of Right to Counsel for Indigent Defendants

A Symposium hosted by the University of Maryland Law Journal of Race, Religion, Gender and Class and the University of Maryland Francis King Carey School of Law.

University of Maryland Carey School of Law
500 W. Baltimore St.
Baltimore, MD 21201

Friday, March 22, 2013
8:30 a.m. - 1:00 p.m.

Please join us on Friday, March 22, 2013, for our annual Spring Symposium, which will begin at 8:30 a.m. with registration in the atrium, followed by welcoming words in the Ceremonial Courtroom. The first of two panels will begin at 9:00 a.m. A luncheon and keynote address will take place in Westminster Hall at noon. All are welcome; registration for this event is free.

Speakers include:

• Mr. Charles H. (Chip) Dorsey III, Deputy Public Defender, Maryland Office of the Public Defender
• Professor Chris Flohr, Blackford & Flohr LLC; Adjunct Professor, University of Maryland Francis King Carey School of Law
• Professor Cynthia Jones, Associate Professor of Law, American University Washington College of Law
• Professor Richard Daniel Klein, Bruce K. Gould Distinguished Professor of Law, Touro College Jacob D. Fuchsberg Law Center
• Ms. Margaret Colgate Love, Law Office of Margaret Love
• Mr. Timothy J. Murray, Executive Director, Pretrial Justice Institute
• Professor Thiruvendran Vignarajah, Division Chief, Major Investigations Unit, Office of the State's Attorney for Baltimore City; Adjunct Professor, University of Maryland Francis King Carey School of Law

The goal of "Gideon at Fifty" is to commemorate the fiftieth anniversary of the landmark case Gideon v. Wainwright, which held that the Sixth Amendment’s right to counsel has full force and effect for indigent defendants facing felony charges in state court prosecutions. Since Gideon was decided, the guarantee to counsel has been extended to misdemeanors and to “critical stages” of a criminal prosecution. However, many of the promises inherent in Gideon have gone unrealized. This Symposium aims to examine some of the areas in which indigent defendants would benefit from the guarantees of Gideon; namely, pretrial proceedings like bail hearings and arraignment, as well as later stages in a criminal prosecution, including plea bargaining and post-conviction. We hope to bring together a diverse group of panelists who will lend us their perspectives as defense attorneys, prosecutors, judges, advocates, and academics, so that we may encourage our community to consider more seriously the issue of indigent defense.

Our first panel will discuss Gideon's application in the pretrial context. What would it take for states to guarantee counsel in bail hearings? What do those who cannot afford attorneys lose from not having representation during bail hearings and arraignment? Does our criminal justice system unfairly burden those who cannot afford their own attorneys, and if so, what can we do about it? Our second panel will examine how the right to counsel applies in the context of plea bargaining, and how ineffective assistance of counsel at early stages of a criminal proceeding may affect later states such as post-conviction. What are some of the collateral consequences a criminal defendant may face if he or she is not well-represented? We will also examine some recent developments in the right to counsel doctrine.

Schedule:

8:30 a.m – 9:00 a.m. Registration

9:00 a.m. – 9:15 a.m. Welcoming Remarks

9:15 a.m. – 10:30 a.m. New Possibilities: Examining Gideon's Application in the Pretrial Context

• Mr. Charles H. (Chip) Dorsey III, Deputy Public Defender, Maryland Office of the Public Defender
• Professor Chris Flohr, Blackford & Flohr LLC; Adjunct Professor, University of Maryland Francis King Carey School of Law
• Professor Cynthia Jones, Associate Professor of Law, American University Washington College of Law
• Mr. Timothy J. Murray, Executive Director, Pretrial Justice Institute
• Moderator:  Douglas L. Colbert, Professor of Law, University of Maryland Francis King Carey School of Law

10:30 a.m. –10:40 a.m. Break

10:40 a.m. – 11:55 a.m. Collateral Consequences:  Plea Bargaining, Post-Conviction, and the Right to Effective Assistance of Counsel

• Professor Richard Daniel Klein, Bruce K. Gould Distinguished Professor of Law, Touro College Jacob D. Fuchsberg Law Center
• Ms. Margaret Colgate Love, Law Office of Margaret Love
• Professor Thiruvendran Vignarajah, Division Chief, Major Investigations Unit, Office of the State's Attorney for Baltimore City; Adjunct Professor, University of Maryland Francis King Carey School of Law
• Moderator: Michael Pinard, Professor of Law and Director, Clinical Law Program, University of Maryland Francis King Carey School of Law

12:00 p.m. – 1:00 p.m.   Luncheon and Keynote Address: Lisa M. Wayne

• Ms. Lisa M. Wayne, Law Offices of Lisa M. Wayne; Immediate Past President, National Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers; Of Counsel, Gerash & Steiner, P.C.

The keynote address and luncheon will be held in Westminster Hall.

• University of Maryland Law Journal of Race, Religion, Gender and Class