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This bill would allow federal class action lawsuits to be filed against states that systematically fail to guarantee the right to effective legal counsel for people facing criminal prosecution for a felony or juvenile delinquency that can’t afford an attorney of their own.

It reiterates that the right of individuals facing criminal prosecution or juvenile delinquency proceedings are guaranteed the right to effective counsel by the Sixth and Fourteenth Amendments of the U.S. Constitution.

","official_title":"To enforce the Sixth Amendment right to the assistance of effective counsel at all stages of the adversarial process, to confer jurisdiction upon the district courts of the United States to provide declaratory and injunctive relief against systemic violations of such right, and for other purposes.","short_title":"Equal Justice Under Law Act of 2016","popular_title":null,"short_summary":"Equal Justice Under Law Act of 2016\n\nThis bill states that an indigent individual facing criminal prosecution or juvenile delinquency in a state court is entitled to the effective assistance of counsel, as guaranteed by the Sixth and Fourteenth Amendments, at the state's expense.\n\nThe bill authorizes a federal class action lawsuit against a state for its systemic failure to guarantee the right to effective assistance of counsel. The assistance of counsel is ineffective when a class of individuals demonstrates that counsel's performance was not reasonable under prevailing professional norms.","summarized":true,"cost":null,"cost_commentary":"A CBO cost estimate is unavailable.","impact":"Indigent defendants; public defenders; state and local governments; and federal courts.","argument_for":"The Constitution entitles all defendants in criminal cases the right to legal counsel, and if state or local governments are failing in that responsibility they should face class action lawsuits in federal court.","argument_against":"There are better ways to address the challenges faced by public defenders at the state and local level than letting the governments supporting those attorneys face class action lawsuits in federal court.","bill_type":"hr","published":true,"type":"FederalBill","id":"hr5124-114","bill_id":"hr5124-114","formal_id":"H.R. 5124","chamber":"house","congress":114,"last_action_at":"2016-05-17T00:00:00.000Z","active":false,"enacted":false,"enacted_at":null,"vetoed":false,"last_vote_at":null,"debated_on":null,"congress_url":"https://www.congress.gov/bill/114th/house-bill/5124","plain_text_url":"https://www.gpo.gov/fdsys/pkg/BILLS-114hr5124ih/html/BILLS-114hr5124ih.htm","shareable_image_url":"https://n.causes.com/share-images/bills/hr5124-114.png","congress_full_text_url":"https://www.congress.gov/bill/114th/house-bill/5124/text","is_current_congress":false,"last_version_on":"2016-04-29","related_bill_ids":["s3144-114"],"progress":"Introduced","house_passage_result":false,"senate_passage_result":false,"position_count":178,"committees":[{"name":"Constitution, Civil Rights, and Civil Liberties","chamber":"house","committee_id":"HSJU10","subcommittee":true},{"name":"Committee on the Judiciary","chamber":"house","committee_id":"HSJU","subcommittee":false},{"name":"Crime, Terrorism and Homeland Security","chamber":"house","committee_id":"HSJU08","subcommittee":true}],"links":{"rollCalls":"/api/roll_calls?bill_id=hr5124-114","details":"/api/bills/hr5124-114/details","sharingMessage":"/api/sharing_messages/hr5124-114","positionsFor":"/api/bills/hr5124-114/positions/for","positionsAgainst":"/api/bills/hr5124-114/positions/against"},"upcoming":false,"cosponsors_count":16,"slug":"hr5124-114-equal-justice-under-law-act-of-2016","latest_chamber_votes_id":null,"official_url":null,"target_video":true,"following":false,"vote_count":1562,"yea_vote_count":1299,"nay_vote_count":256,"passed_house":false,"passed_senate":false,"vote_id":null,"my_position_id":null,"topic_ids":["crime-and-police","government","legal-affairs"],"issue_ids":["crime-and-police","government","the-constitution","legal-affairs","states"],"sponsor_id":134}],"votes":[],"issues":[{"id":"crime-and-police","name":"Crime & Police","slug":"crime-and-police","description":"Federal legislation related to the prevention of crimes(from assault to organized crime to juvenile crime), firearms and explosives, correctional facilities and terrorism. 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Should States That Fail to Provide the Poor With Effective Legal Counsel Need to Face Class Action Lawsuits?