Right to Counsel — Jail and Prison Conditions — Galsworthy Criminal Justice Reform Program

Jail and Prison Conditions

Even if an inmate's sentence is not oppressively long, their treatment while incarcerated can still constitute subhuman treatment. Prisons are not medical facilities, but they regularly are forced to deal with mental health problems and care for elderly and terminally ill inmates. Food, if it's even edible, usually lacks enough nutrition for inmates' health to not deteriorate. Plus, with a lack of opportunities to see family, read, or gain skill sets, inmates are placed in buildings which lack any resemblance of the civilized world.

The U.S. has failed to honor its promise of a right to counsel and the implications are staggering

"Meanwhile, there is no constitutional rule about how long a defendant can wait before the initial court appearance that triggers this right to counsel.....They can wait even longer to see their attorneys. The lengthy uncounseled detentions of presumptively innocent people mimic the police "disappearances" so common under authoritarian regimes. Our country has failed to honor its promise of a right to counsel. The breach of this promise has staggering implications."

Dallas Morning News

July 1, 2018

Jail & Prison ConditionsAnthony BradleyJuly 29, 2018Dallas Morning News, Right to Counsel

Jail and Prison Conditions

Galsworthy CJR Program

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