Improved Representation for Indigent Criminal Defendants in Georgia

Late in 2011, a state-wide settlement in Georgia set new standards for the quantity and quality of state-provided counsel for indigent criminal defendants in new trial and appellate proceedings. The parties agreed in this state-court litigation that because of the litigation, a vast backlog of requests for counsel had cleared; the settlement set up procedures to ensure that, going forward, persons entitled to representation will no longer have to wait years for help.