Public defenders in the United States: any lessons for Britain?

The Home Secretary explained at the last Conference of the Bar, achieving better control over the cost of providing defence representation for those unable to pay for it privately is seen as a priority. Amongst other options, the government is studying an American style public defender system with salaried lawyers defending criminal cases, rather than the accused choosing there own lawyer on legal aid. With this in mind this article reports on how criminal defence representation is provided in the United States for those unable to afford it. It then focuses on the state of Massachusetts which relies on a mixed system of private attorneys and salaried public defenders.