Turner v. Rogers:New Territory for the Constitutional Right to Counsel

Co-sponsored by the Washington Council of Lawyers and The Constitution Project

DATE: Monday, April 25, 2011
12:00 pm - 2:00 pm

LOCATION: DLA Piper
Conference Room One White (Lower Level)
500 Eighth Street, NW
Washington, DC 20004

PANELISTS: Catherine Carroll, Partner, Wilmer Hale and Pro Bono Counsel for Michael Turner
Jo-Ann Wallace, President, National Legal Aid & Defender Association
Debra Gardner, Legal Director, Public Justice Center and Coordinator,
National Coalition for a Civil Right to Counsel
Moderator: Mary Schmid Mergler, Senior Counsel to the Constitution Project's
Criminal Justice Program

Several states, including South Carolina, Georgia and Florida, have created de facto "debtors' prisons" in which individuals too poor to pay their fines or court-ordered obligations are incarcerated without being afforded the opportunity to be represented by counsel. In Turner, the United States Supreme Court will decide whether these individuals have a right to counsel. Join us for a discussion about the constitutional right to counsel in both criminal and civil cases, as well as the implications that Turner could have on the expansion of this right.

RSVP: The Constitution Project
rsvp@constitutionproject.org

Drinks and dessert will be provided. Bring your own lunch if desired.

About the Constitution Project
The Constitution Project (TCP) brings together unlikely allies-experts and practitioners from across the political spectrum-in order to promote and safeguard America's founding charter. TCP is working to reform the nation's broken criminal justice system and to strengthen the rule of law through scholarship, consensus policy reforms, advocacy, and public education.

About the Washington Council of Lawyers
Since its founding in 1971, the Washington Council of Lawyers, a voluntary bar association, has promoted public interest practice of law and pro bono service. Council members represent every sector of the Washington legal community -- lawyers and pro bono coordinators from law firms and law schools, lawyers from public interest groups, government agencies and congressional offices, as well as law students and members of law-related professions. We are united in our support of social justice and in our conviction that the legal system must be made to serve the needs of the poor and the powerless. The Washington Council of Lawyers seeks to translate this conviction into action and advance social justice in general.