Public Defenders and Client Choice

In 1963, the Supreme Court ruled that indigent persons accused of crimes must be provided with an attorney. The Court, however, did not specify how those attorneys should be financed. The public defender model is, of course, the most familiar model that has arisen. Texas is about to start something new--a pilot program involving defense vouchers. Like the school voucher concept, the idea is to replicate, so far as possible, a free market for defense services. By giving the person with the most at stake more say in choosing the attorney who will defend his reputation and liberty, will vouchers produce gains for both the defendant and the public at large? Join us for a conversation about this new program and the challenges that critics are advancing.

• James D. Bethke, Executive Director, Texas Indigent Defense Commission
• Prof. Stephen J. Schulhofer, Robert B. McKay Professor of Law, New York University Law School
• Moderator: Tim Lynch, Director, Project on Criminal Justice, Cato Institute

Call begins at 2:00 p.m. Eastern Time.

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