The US Supreme Court handed down its landmark decision Gideon v. Wainwright 50 years ago today, on March 18, 1963. In its decision, the Court decided that the federal right to counsel must be extended to state prosecutions:
any person haled into court, who is too poor to hire a lawyer, cannot be assured a fair trial unless counsel is provided for him
Guest post by Joshua Baron
How would you rate your most recent interaction with an opposing lawyer? Chances are that if you are a criminal lawyer, it was a lot more pleasant than if you practice other areas of law. The surprising research that supports this is one reason you should take more criminal cases and if you are a new law school graduate choosing a legal field you should consider criminal law.
In a string of “via” attributions that include Scott Greenfield, BoingBoing, and a slow Friday on the Internet, I only just became aware of probably the coolest law “textbook” ever created: The Illustrated Guide to Criminal Law. It’s also a blog drawn by Nathaniel Burney, a New York criminal defense lawyer, who I followed on Twitter right away.
Here is how it begins:
This is way cooler than that illustrated amicus brief everybody freaked out about last week. That was pretty cool, don’t get me wrong. But this!
It also comes in book form!
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