Via Legal Blog Watch, by R. J. Ambrogi in his post titled “Good News for Court-Appointed Lawyers,” private lawyers who take court-appointed cases in the federal system just got a pay raise.
Last week, James C. Duff, director of the Administrative Office of the United States Courts, issued a memorandum directing the federal courts to increase the hourly rates and case maximums.
In Gideon v. Wainwright, 372 U.S. 355 (1963), the Supreme Court rendered a decision holding that states have a constitutional obligation to provide court-appointed lawyers for indigent criminal defendants. “In our adversary system of criminal justice, 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,” Justice Hugo L. Black wrote for the court.