Mission Statement
"Lawyers in a criminal case are necessities, not luxuries....[I]n our adversary system
of justice, any person haled into court, who is too poor to hire a lawyer, cannot be assured
a fair trial unless counsel is provided for him. This seems to us to be an obvious truth.
" Gideon v. Wainwright, 372 U.S. 335, 344 (1963).
The Federal Public Defender for the Western District of Washington was
established in the spring of 1975 for the purpose of ensuring the Sixth
Amendment right to effective assistance of counsel and equal access to
justice in federal court. Fully staffed offices in Seattle and Tacoma
provide wide ranging representation for financially qualified
individuals whenever a liberty interest is threatened. The office also
provides support and training for lawyers who accept appointments to
represent people pursuant to the Criminal Justice Act (CJA). This web
site was designed to further that support function and to provide
information and news relevant to the mission of the office and the CJA.