Death Penalty - Poverty

Indigent defendants i.e. those without sufficient funds for private legal representation, are generally reliant on the services of public defenders, charitable organisations or pro bono lawyers.  In April 2001, US Supreme Court Judge Ruth Bader Ginsburg was quoted as saying that "People who are well represented at trial do not get the death penalty… I have yet to see a death case among the dozens coming to the Supreme Court on eve-of-execution stay applications in which the defendant was well represented at trial".

Recent figures show that 90% of death row inmates are classed as indigent.