The New CJA Form 24: Protecting Indigent Criminal Appellants’ Rights

Authors

Gabriel J. Chin, UC Davis School of Law
Hannah Bogen

Abstract

This essay describes how the Judicial Conference of the United States elected to reform the provision of transcripts to indigent persons appealing criminal convictions in federal court. A conviction cannot be appealed without a transcript, but, by definition, indigent persons cannot afford to purchase them. A series of Supreme Court decisions held that indigent persons had to be provided transcripts without charge. However, the practical implementation of that right was blocked. In the federal system, appointed counsel had to request production of transcripts using Criminal Justice Act Form 24. That form required special permission for the court reporter to produce jury selection, opening statements, closing arguments, and jury instructions. However, Supreme Court cases about the duty of counsel made clear that appellate defense counsel were professionally obligated to review the entire transcript, even the parts which were not provided routinely under Form 24. The parts not routinely granted might well have been the source of reversible error, if they were made available.

In 2023, we petitioned the Judicial conference of the United States, the policymaking body of the federal judiciary, to amend Form 24. In 2024 they did so, aligning Form 24 with the commands of the Constitution.

Recommended Citation

Gabriel J. Chin and Hannah Bogen, The New CJA Form 24: Protecting Indigent Criminal Appellants’ Rights, 23 UC Law SF Race & Econ. Just. L.J. 59 (2026).
Available at: https://repository.uclawsf.edu/hastings_race_poverty_law_journal/vol23/iss1/4