May 2020 Bar Bulletin
By Robert C. Boruchowitz
If you or a loved one are charged with a crime, fairly or unfairly, you probably will have to rely on a public defender to represent you. But in many places, that can be risky.
This month marks 57 years since the Supreme Court announced that people accused of crimes in state court who could not afford to hire their own lawyers should have counsel appointed at no cost to them. The enforcement of this fundamental right, announced thousands of times in television shows, has led to transformational change in American courts, but even before the current virus crisis, there were wrenching challenges across Washington...