Speech (NATIONAL, New York)
Jonathan Lippman
May 3, 2010
Lippman-Jonathan-2010-05-03-speech-law-day1
Tags: Civil Right to Counsel
DETAILS
Forty-seven years ago, the United States Supreme Court in Gideon v. Wainwright, said in regard to criminal case representation that:
“In our adversary system of justice, any person hauled into court, who is too poor to hire a lawyer, cannot be assured a fair trial unless counsel is provided for him. This seems to us to be an obvious truth.”
Nearly half a century later, it is an equally obvious truth that in civil proceedings involving fundamental human needs, it is extremely difficult, if not impossible, for a person to be assured a fair outcome without a lawyer’s help.
As Chief Judge, I see this as one of the great challenges facing our justice system today. No issue is more fundamental to our constitutional mandate of providing equal justice under law than ensuring adequate legal representation.