Criminal Defense Law in Tennessee Public Defenders Turning People Away
According to WCYB news in east Tennessee, one Tennessee public defender’s office is turning away indigent individuals who have been criminally charged. More than 50 years ago, in the case of Gideon v. Wainwright, the United States Supreme Court ruled that every criminal defendant has a constitutional right to a lawyer, whether or not he or she could afford one. The Justices wrote that poor individuals could not be “assured a fair trial unless counsel is provided to them.” Hence the advent of the public defender.