6075806 Public Roundtable on Considering Civil Gideon: Expanding Access to Justice in the District of Columbia

Council of the District of Columbia

COMMITTEE ON THE JUDICIARY

Notice of Public Roundtable

1350 Pennsylvania Avenue, N.W., Washington, D.C. 20004  

 

 

Councilmember Kenyan R. McDuffie, Chairperson

Committee on the Judiciary

 

Announces a Public Roundtable on

 

Considering Civil Gideon: Expanding Access to Justice in the

District of Columbia

 

Wednesday, June 22, 2016, 6:00 p.m. – 9:00 p.m.

University of the District of Columbia David A. Clarke School of Law

Moot Court Room (Room 518)

4340 Connecticut Avenue, N.W.

 Washington, D.C. 20008

 

 

On Wednesday, June 22, 2016, Councilmember Kenyan R. McDuffie, Chairperson of the Committee on the Judiciary, will convene a public roundtable titled “Considering Civil Gideon: Expanding Access to Justice in the District of Columbia”. In 1963, the United States Supreme Court held in Gideon v. Wainwright that criminal defendants have a fundamental right to counsel at the government’s expense if they cannot afford one. The phrase “civil Gideon” refers to the national movement to expand this right to counsel to civil cases.

 

The need for civil representation in the District of Columbia is dire, particularly for low- and moderate-income residents. Recent reports have indicated that 98 percent of litigants in domestic violence cases in the D.C. Superior Court proceeded pro se, in addition to 77 percent of plaintiffs in divorce and custody cases, 98 percent in paternity and child support cases, and 97 percent in landlord/tenant court. The roundtable will include a robust discussion of best practices in other jurisdictions and will explore policy recommendations for the expansion of the right to civil counsel in the District of Columbia. The roundtable will be held in the Moot Court Room of the University of the District of Columbia David A. Clarke School of Law, located at 4340 Connecticut Avenue, N.W., from 6:00 p.m. to 9:00 p.m.

The Committee has invited subject matter experts to provide oral testimony. The Committee invites the public to submit written testimony, which will be made part of the official record. The public is invited to attend, but those who wish to provide oral testimony will be offered the opportunity to do so at a later date.

Copies of written statements should be submitted either to the Committee by emailing [e-mail] or to Nyasha Smith, Secretary to the Council, 1350 Pennsylvania Avenue, N.W., Suite 5, Washington, D.C. 20004.  The record will close at the end of the business day on Friday, July 8, 2016.