The Defense of Indigent Persons Accused of Crime in Washington—A Survey

Eight months before the decision of the United States Supreme Court in Gideon v. Wainwright the American Bar Association, in accordance with its long existing concern with the problem of indigent defendants, authorized the appointment of a special committee with associate subcommittees in each state "to study present practices and to initiate, coordinate and accelerate efforts to assure adequacy of the defense provided indigent persons accused of crime in the United States..." The work of state subcommittees was coordinated and directed by the American Bar Foundation. This article is based upon the report prepared by the Washington subcommittee, and follows in general the form of the report requested by the American Bar Foundation.