Guam: Where the day of civil Gideon begins | Letters to the publisher

On July 10, 2025, the Guam Public Defender Service Corp. His 50th year of operation. It is quite important that the GUAM PDSC has been offering legal services, both criminals and public services since 1975 and our offices have been opened since then over 125,000 files. Each file represents the father, the mother, brother or sister, son or daughter of someone. Before we celebrate our birthday, we would like to celebrate the case that laid the basis for PDSC.

Gideon against Wainwright, who decided on March 18, 1963 from the US's Supreme Court, directed the right to consult the needy who are detained. Mr. Gideon was charged by a jury and put on trial, found guilty and sentenced to prison, all without a lawyer. He acted his appointment to the Supreme Court, which represented himself. His conviction was reversed and a new process was ordered. When the conviction was lifted, the Supreme Court of the United States found that “lawyers are necessary for criminal courts, not luxury.” At the new trial, Mr. Gideon was not found guilty for all charges. This is the constitutional foundation for the Guam Public Defender Service Corp. March 18 is now known as a public defense day!

Here on Guam, thousands of kilometers from the Supreme Court of the United States, the Guam legislator went the constitutional mandate of Gideon and went one step further. The PDSC was created on July 10, 1975. Our company was created to represent people in need not only in criminal matters, but also in civil matters. Civil Gideon, an expression that was made popular by the American Bar Association in 2005, has been asking the alarm since 1975, three decades before ABA claimed the alarm. Guam is not only where the American day begins, but also where the civilian Gideon began. The entire island should be proud of this historical fact. PDSC now consists of three divisions: the main department PDSC Criminal Division, the alternative public defender and the Civil Law Center. Together we offer our needy community in criminals and civil legal issues together, together – a company of 80 employees, including 26 lawyers who devote themselves to the support of our most endangered population with their impossible legal needs.

The sixth change, which has listed the right to advice, as each of the other rights in the organic law of Guam, should be protected by each of the three branches of government. Our needy system has developed further and the public defender Service Corp. was essential. The sixth amendment center, a national thought factory, recently carried out a study of the needy system of Guam. A report with recommendations was published on March 18, 2024, in which a number of changes were recommended that would contain standards for public defense systems in American Bar Association. The right to advise Guam has put a long way, but we still have to go far ahead of us. We plan to include holistic practices that reduce the relapse by helping our customers not only solve their legal matters, but to help them get the tools that are necessary to prevent future crimes. In addition to the proposed changes, a rejuvenated board of directors, which consists of board members who have been appointed by each of the three branches of government, would be additional support for lawyers in the form of investigators and social workers who contribute to investigating cases and finding solutions. This mature PDSC could serve as a model for the nation by expanding the legal services to ensure the inalienable rights contained in the declaration of independence that our government has for protection: life, freedom and persecution of happiness.

So, happy birthday gideon v. Wainwright! Happy Public Defense Day! And hopefully with the support of our three branches of government, we can celebrate the PDSC's anniversary this year in a clearly Guamanian way by reminding our people that we are all together and that we will provide our traditional legal services in both criminals and civil matters. Biba Gideon and Biba PDSC.

Stephen P. Hattori is the executive director of the public defender Service Corp.