Arianna S., et al. v. Commonwealth of Massachusetts et al | Civil Rights Litigation Clearinghouse

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Case Name	Arianna S., et al. v. Commonwealth of Massachusetts et al	PD-MA-0002
Docket / Court	SJ-2004-0282 ( State Court )
State/Territory	Massachusetts
Case Type(s)	Indigent Defense
Case Summary	On June 28, 2004, indigent criminal defendants as well as minors involved in child welfare cases filed a lawsuit in the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court alleging that Massachusetts' system of indigent defense was unconstitutional due to the exceptionally low compensation rates of appointed ... read more > On June 28, 2004, indigent criminal defendants as well as minors involved in child welfare cases filed a lawsuit in the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court alleging that Massachusetts' system of indigent defense was unconstitutional due to the exceptionally low compensation rates of appointed counsel. Plaintiffs were represented by a private law firm. Upon filing the claim, a motion to certify the class was made. That motion was never decided upon. On November 1, 2004, the court (Greaney, J.) ordered a stay of the proceedings due to pending action by the legislature to increase counsel compensation rates. The legislature substantially increased the pay rates for appointed counsel, and on October 30, 2007, the court dismissed the case on grounds of mootness. We have no further information on this matter. Dayna Frenkel - 02/18/2009 compress summary

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Issues and Causes of Action

Issues

Crowding

Crowding / caseload

General

Funding

Plaintiff Type

Private Plaintiff

Causes of Action

Case Details


Defendant(s)	Commonwealth of Massachusetts
Plaintiff Description	Minor children in foster care, an indigent father and a criminal indigent defendant who were being denied their right to counsel due to a shortage of attorneys stemming from the low compensation rates of appointed counsel.
Class action status sought	Yes
Class action status granted	No
Filed Pro Se	No
Prevailing Party	Unknown
Public Int. Lawyer	No
Nature of Relief	None
Source of Relief	None
Filing Year	2004
Case Closing Year	2007
Case Ongoing	No

Additional Resources


	Securing Reasonable Caseloads: Ethics and Law in Public Defense Date: 2011 By: Norman Lefstein (Indiana University--Indianapolis Faculty) Citation: (ABA 2011) [ Detail ] [ External Link ]
	Justice Denied: America's Continuing Neglect of Our Constitutional Right to Counsel. Date: Apr. 14, 2009 By: National Right to Counsel Committee (The Constitution Project) Citation: National Right to Counsel Committee, Justice Denied: America's Continuing Neglect of Our Constitutional Right to Counsel (2009) [ Detail ] [ PDF ] [ External Link ]
	The Third Generation of Indigent Defense Litigation New York University Review of Law and Social Change Date: 2009 By: Cara Drinan (Columbus School of Law, Catholic University Faculty) Citation: 33 N.Y.U. Rev. L. & Soc. Change 427 (2009) [ Detail ] [ External Link ]
	Indigent Defense Reform: The Role of Systemic Litigation in Operationalizing the Gideon Right to Counsel Date: May 7, 2007 By: Vidhya K. Reddy (Washington University in St. Louis Law Student) [ Detail ] [ PDF ]

Documents

Docket(s)

SJ-2004-0282 (State Supreme Court)
PD-MA-0002-9000.pdf | Detail
Date: 07/30/2008
Source: State Court Website

General Documents

No documents currently in the collection

People


Judges	Greaney, John M. (State Supreme Court) PD-MA-0002-9000
Plaintiff's Lawyers	Krumholz, Joshua C. (Massachusetts) PD-MA-0002-9000
	Kulig, Lawrence R. (Massachusetts) PD-MA-0002-9000
	Naughton, Edward J. (Massachusetts) PD-MA-0002-9000
	Tolman, Warren E. (Massachusetts) PD-MA-0002-9000
Defendant's Lawyers	Kehoe, Ronald F. (Massachusetts) PD-MA-0002-9000
	Kerrigan, David R. (Massachusetts) PD-MA-0002-9000