Amicus Brief: Council v. United States

The Fourth Circuit incorrectly determined that the trial court fulfilled its weighty responsibility of ensuring Mr. Council was competent to stand trial—and face the death penalty—when, rather than conducting a proceeding even remotely resembling a competency hearing, it deferred to […]

Social Worker Meetup: The Components of Competency

Black’s Law Dictionary defines competency as “Duly qualified; answering all requirements; adequate; suitable; sufficient; capable; legally fit.” But competency when related to our work as social workers, mitigation specialists, and sentencing advocates is not so cut and dry. Some jurisdictions […]