Maryland Senate Committee to Vote on Legislation That Would Reverse Progress in Delivery of Indigent Defense Services
/In this, the 50th anniversary year of the landmark Supreme Court decision in Gideon v. Wainwright, the Maryland Senate Judicial Proceedings Committee is expected to vote early next week on legislation that would reverse progress the state has made in the delivery of defense services to indigent Marylanders accused of a crime. If passed, the measure would then move to the full Senate.
HB 153 was already adopted by the House of Delegates and was the subject of a hearing before this Senate committee on Wednesday, March 27, 2013 at which John Gross, Indigent Defense Counsel at the National Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers (NACDL), testified. The legislation’s primary purpose is the erection of bureaucratic, procedural hurdles for Marylanders to secure and retain counsel when they are accused of a crime and cannot afford an attorney. Specifically, under Maryland’s current Public Defender Act, an indigent accused is entitled to court-appointed counsel when they go before a district court judge for a bail hearing (which itself can mean an accused is behind bars for up to 72 hours without a lawyer). If HB 153 becomes law, those defendants who had already qualified for court-appointed counsel will lose that counsel upon being released on their own recognizance or posting bail, and will have to duplicate the very same qualification process with the Office of the Public Defender.
