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Whether public defenders are funded by the state, county, city or some combination thereof, governments across the country are sacrificing lawyers for the poor and putting the constitutionally guaranteed right to counsel at risk.
This is the first in a series of articles investigating the failed promise of Gideon v. Wainwright. It was reported in partnership with the Investigative Fund of the Nation Institute. On April 18, 2011, New Orleans police arrested Clarence Jones, a 41-year-old black man.
