Most of us take it for granted that if we're ever in court and we can't afford a lawyer, the court will provide one for us. And in fact, the right to an attorney is written into the Constitution's sixth amendment. But for most of U.S. history, it was more of a nice-to-have — something you got if you could, but that many people went without.

Today, though, public defenders represent up to 80% of people charged with crimes. So what changed? Today on the show: how public defenders became the backbone of our criminal legal system, and what might need to change for them to truly serve everyone.

Guests:

Sara Mayeux, law and history professor at Vanderbilt University and author of Free Justice: A History of the Public Defender in Twentieth Century America

Alexis Hoag-Fordjour, professor at Brooklyn Law School, co-director of the Center for Criminal Justice and a Dean's Research Scholar

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Tags: Sixth Amendment  public defender  courts  constitution