ABSTRACT
In Strickland v. Washington, 466 US 668, the US Supreme Court set standards for determining the circumstances under which ineffective representation by defense counsel would require that a conviction or death sentence be overturned. The particular claim at issue in Strickland centered around the capital sentencing of David Leroy Washington, a man who was sentenced to death after pleading guilty to three murders and several lesser offenses. Washington challenged his death sentence on the ground that his counsel had failed to provide effective assistance at the sentencing proceeding. Strickland appeared to preclude frivolous claims of ineffective assistance of counsel without jeopardizing criminal defendants' right to a fair trial. But given shortfalls in funding for indigent defense, especially in capital cases, in practice Strickland has erected substantial barriers to those who believe their criminal defense representation was substandard.
