Equal Justice Initiative

In America, poor people accused of crimes, even in death penalty cases, are appointed lawyers from the local bar who are often unprepared and always underpaid. Without a state public defender system or resources to obtain adequate legal representation, poor people in Alabama are being sentenced to death at record levels. It is not surprising that in such a system the poor are often inadequately represented at trial. Many defense lawyers call no witnesses or fail to present any defense; some fail to make closing arguments; few object to clear constitutional error; and most are reluctant and unwilling participants in a trial process that is adversarial in name only.

Alabama remains one of the few states in America that does not have a statewide public defender system. Increased hostility towards the plight of the economically disadvantaged threatens to undermine the equal administration of justice. Thousands of prisoners in Alabama have been sentenced to life in prison without parole and other excessive punishments for non- violent offenses.

As a result of inadequate representation, many people have been illegally convicted and sentenced. An alarming number of these men, women, and children are innocent. Death row prisoners have been convicted even though their lawyers were cited as being drunk in court, subsequently disbarred, or publicly supported a conviction and death sentence for their client.

News

With Help From EJI, Oklahoma Death Row Prisoner James Fisher Wins New Trial

March 28, 2008On Monday, March 24, 2008, Oklahoma death row prisoner James Fisher won reversal of his capital murder conviction and death sentence because his trial counsel's performance failed to meet constitutional requirements.

EJI Challenges Eleventh Circuit Denial of Meritorious Claim Because Unrepresented Inmate Did Not Use Correct Language in Brief

March 25, 2008On March 17, 2008, EJI asked the United States Supreme Court to review the Eleventh Circuit Court of Appeals' decision denying relief to Eli Crawford, an Alabama inmate serving a life sentence for attempted murder. At his Birmingham trial, Mr. Crawford's court-appointed trial lawyer did not object when the judge forced Mr. Crawford to wear jail-issued clothing instead of the clothes his family brought for him, even though the Supreme Court has repeatedly held that a defendant's right to be presumed innocent is violated when he is forced to attend trial in a jail uniform.

Conference Addresses Inadequate Counsel for Poor

November 15, 2007At a November 7, 2007, conference on the right to the effective assistance of counsel and the Supreme Court's 1984 decision in Strickland v. Washington, judges, prosecutors, defense lawyers, legal scholars, and other experts discussed the challenge of ensuring effective counsel to indigent defendants, especially in capital cases. (more)