20 Years Spent advancing the civil right to counsel!
Can you believe it? We're turning 20 in 2023!
In 2003, five organizations (the Public Justice Center (PJC), the Schriver Center, NLADA, ABA's Standing Committee on Legal Aid andIndigent Defense (SCLAID), and the Brennan Center) recognized that there was growing interest in the civil right to counsel across the country, as well as the need for better coordination of state and local efforts. They founded the National Coalition for a Civil Right to Counsel (NCCRC), and over the years, the Public Justice Center took on the role of operating the NCCRC as one of its core projects. A lot has changed in the last 20 years! We've expanded our capacity with new staff, created a website that serves as the national clearinghouse of civil right to counsel info, and grown our network of partners andparticipants to 600 people in 45 states. And we've witnessed and assisted the expansion of the civil right to counsel across the country.
In our work to support advocates working to advance the civil right to counsel over the last 20 years, we've:
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directly supported right to counsel legislative campaigns involving housing, child welfare, child custody, mental health, civil incarceration, and more;
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assisted litigation to establish the right to counsel under state constitutions;
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coordinated and connected advocates from across civil practice spheres and the country;
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educated thousands on the state of the civil right to counsel via webinars, conference presentations, keynotes, and written publications;
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maintained the country's only research hub and status map dedicated to tracking the current status of the right to counsel;
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compiled CRTC-related resources in a comprehensive bibliography; and
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kept the press informed and focused on right to counsel.