Perspectives on the ABA Ten Principles of a Public Defense Delivery System Among Texas District and County Court-At-Law Judges

The right to legal representation for those accused of a crime is now a constitutional right across the American legal system. The American Bar Association created the Ten Principles of a Public Defense Delivery System as a practical guide for governmental officials, policymakers, and other parties who are charged with creating and funding new, or improving existing, public defense delivery systems. The purpose of this research is to describe the opinions of District and Statutory Judges in Texas’s Third Administrative Judicial Region on the ability of criminal defense providers to comply with the American Bar Association Ten Principles of a Public Defense Delivery System. The Principles constitute the fundamental criteria necessary to design a system that provides effective, efficient, high quality, ethical, conflict-free legal representation for criminal defendants who are unable to afford an attorney. This research developed the conceptual framework and the literature review using the ten principles. Based on the findings, district and statutory Judges believe criminal defense providers are able to comply with majority of the principles. However, the prominent assigned counsel system in Texas jurisdictions and lack of sufficient funds for resources restrict criminal defense providers from fulfilling all principles.

Name thesis:degree_name

Masters in Public Administration

Level thesis:degree_level

Masters

Discipline thesis:degree_discipline

Public Administration

Grantor

Texas State University

Year dc:date.issued

2013

Author dc:creator

• Wilson, Simone M.

Advisor dc:contributor.advisor

• Longoria, Thomas

• public defenses
• Texas
• district courts
• county courts
• judges
• laws
• lawyers
• legal representations

Language dc:language.iso

en

Handle dc:identifier.uri

https://hdl.handle.net/10877/24560

OAI identifier oai:identifier

oai:digital.library.txst.edu:10877/24560