Texas Indigent Defense Commission | Resources

Resources (presentations)

Texas Indigent Defense Commission (TIDC)

 

Gideon Anniversary Events

  • March 18, 2013: Texas Commemoration of the 50th Anniversary of Gideon: Commemoration of the 50th Anniversary of Gideon v. Wainwright the landmark Supreme Court decision requiring states to provide counsel to those too poor to hire counsel when charged with a felony offense.  Presenters included the Honorable Sharon Keller, Chair of the Texas Indigent Defense Commission, Ms. Lydia Clay-Jackson the President of the Texas Criminal Defense Lawyers, Senator Rodney Ellis, the author of the Texas Fair Defense Act of 2001, Mr. Buck Files, President of the State Bar of Texas, Deborah Leff, from the U.S. Department of Justice, and Professor Bruce Jacob, who represented the State of Florida in Gideon v. Wainwright. This distinguished group of presenters discussed the right to counsel in Texas, the lessons from Gideon, and the path forward. The event was live-streamed. Videos are available of the presenters. Also, read Acting Senior Counselor for the Access to Justice Initiative Deborah Leff's speech here. Later that same afternoon both the House (Representative Turner and Representative Herrero) and Senate (Senator Ellis) presented Resolutions commemorating the 50th anniversary of landmark Supreme Court decision in Gideon v. Wainwright: HR808 (and archive video, go to 45:25-51:16) and SR479 (and archive video, go to 5:05-11:15).
  • March 12, 2013: Jim Bethke participated on a panel of distinguished speakers, including former U.S. Attorney General Edwin Meese, in DC.  The event was sponsored by The Heritage Foundation and NACDL and was entitled Gideon v. Wainwright: 50 Years of Constitutional Protection.  The event was live-streamed and a video of the presentation is available online. 
  • March 15, 2013: U.S. Department of Justice “50 Years Later: The Legacy of Gideon v. Wainwright.” Jim Bethke was invited by U.S. Attorney General Holder to attend a Gideon ceremony and two hour training event that took place in The Great Hall, Robert F. Kennedy Main Justice Building, Washington, D.C. Among those joining General Holder in speaking was Former Vice President Walter Mondale and U.S. Supreme Court Justice Elena Kagan.
  • February 9-10, 2013: Jim Bethke attended and presented two different times at the American Bar Association Mid-Year Meeting being held in Dallas. He was on a panel with several others to discuss the future of indigent defense "Gideon in the 21st Century: A Roundtable" and he moderated a panel during the Eighth Annual Summit on Indigent Defense Improvement: Gideon at Fifty: The Way Forward. The panel included Judge Hervey, the Dallas District Attorney's office and Public Defender's office on the topic "Dallas Justice 2013 Forward."
  • See a listing of events that took place around the country.

Video downloads of presentations from previous Indigent Defense Workshops



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Updated: 22-Jul-2013