May No One Stand Alone

by Heather Cessna, BIDS Executive Director

This month we celebrate a momentous occasion that is near and dear to our hearts – the anniversary of the landmark United States Supreme Court case of Gideon v. Wainwright!

I have always enjoyed telling non-public defenders the story of Clarence Gideon as the real life, modern version of a fairytale – the idea of a single individual standing up to the entire state apparatus that systematically denied him his basic rights, his willingness to not take no for an answer, the audacity to write a handwritten note to the highest court in the land to argue his constitutional issue, and the willingness of that court to take his argument seriously, and issue a unanimous declaration of a right that now seems so basic and obvious that it’s hard for us to remember a world where it did not exist. 

Millions of impoverished people in the United States have been entitled to the assistance of counsel in their criminal cases since 1963 because one pro se litigant in a Florida prison read the constitution and then hand wrote a petition in pencil to the most powerful court in the land. 

But while Clarence Gideon helped establish the right to the assistance of counsel, it’s you that make that fundamental constitutional right a reality every single day. 

You are each a vital part of a small but mighty community of people in this country who are dedicating their work to fulfilling that awesome promise of the Sixth Amendment and Gideon v. Wainwright. 

This work is already hard and we all know that it’s also made harder than it should be by the systemic issues of never-ending caseloads, understaffing, and underfunding that we are currently fighting to correct. But as difficult as this work is, every single day each of us – public defenders, paralegals, investigators, administrative assistants, social workers, and administrative office staff – can each honestly say that we have meaningfully impacted our clients and each other’s lives. 

Our power is more than how well we negotiate, litigate, research, or investigate. Our power lies in our willingness to do one simple act: to stand up and take our place beside our clients so that they do not have to stand alone. 

To all of you engaged in our daily fight to give teeth to the Sixth Amendment right established by Mr. Gideon, you have my endless gratitude. Because of your dedication to this work, you have taken a few simple words from a centuries old document, “and to have the Assistance of Counsel for his defence”, and turned it into an army of living, breathing human beings dedicated to the idea that none of our clients will stand and face the mighty power of the prosecution alone.  

Thank you. Thank you for your hard work. Thank you for the dedication to our clients. Thank you for your belief in the fundamental constitutional rights contained in the Sixth Amendment. And thank you for standing up with us every day.