A Record of Failure in New York State

November 8, 2007

New York State Failing its Constitutional Duty on Public Defense, NYCLU Lawsuit Charges The NYCLU's complaint (PDF) Plaintiffs' Biographies: Second-Rate Justice -- A Portrait A History of Public Defense in New York State A Statement By Kaye Commission Member Steven Zeidman

The failure of New York State's fractured public defense system is not a recent revelation. It has been documented over the past several decades in a host of reports:

2007

• Justice Impaired: The Impact of the State of New York's Failure to Effectively Implement the Right to Counsel, Franklin County, The National legal Aid and Defender Association

2006

• Final Report to the Chief Judge of the State of New York, Commission on the Future of Indigent Defenses
• Status of Indigent Defense in New York: A Study for Chief Judge Kaye's Commission on the Future of Indigent Defense Services, The Spangenburg Group

2005

• Standards for Providing Mandated Representation, New York State Bar Association, Special Committee to Ensure Quality Mandated Representation

2004

• Gideon's Broken Promise, American Bar Association
• The Status of Indigent Defense in Schuyler County, NAACP Legal Defense and Education Fund

2003

• Preliminary Report Concerning the Inadequacy of Defense Services Available to Farm Workers, New York State Defenders Association (NYSDA)

2001

• Resolving the Assigned Counsel Fee Crisis: An Opportunity to Provide County Fiscal Relief and Quality Public Defense Services, NYSDA
• Crisis in the Legal Representation of the Poor: Recommendations for a Revised Plan to Implement Mandated Governmentally Funded Legal Representation of Persons Who Cannot Afford Counsel, Appellate Division, First Department Committee on Representation of the Poor
• New York State Division of Criminal Justice Services: Assigned Counsel Survey, Division of Criminal Justice Services

1999

• Review of the Existing Case Management Practices and Procedures and Recommendations for Improvements for the Oneida County Public Defender's Office, Utica, NY: Technical Assistance Report, Criminal Courts Technical Assistance Project

1996

• Task Force on the Representation of the Indigent Assigned Counsel Compensation Committee, New York County Lawyers' Association

1994

• Determining Eligibility for Appointed Counsel in New York State: A Report from the Public Defense Backup Center, NYSDA

1992

• Funding Crisis for Poor Defendants in New York State, NYSDA
• Indigent Parolee Representation: A Mandate Unfulfilled, NYSDA
• State Funding of Public Defense Programs: More Than a Decade of Disparity, NYSDA
• NYSDA Public Defense Backup Center Outline of Proposed Cuts, NYSDA

1990

• Funding the Defense of the Poor: A Reformulation of the Governor's Proposal, NYSDA
• An Analysis of Violation Data in Allegany County 1980-1990, NYSDA
• The Deepening Crisis in the Indigent Parolee Representation Program: The Critical Need for Additional Funds, NYSDA
• New York State Appellate Backlog and Delay Program: A Call for the Restoration of Funds in the FY 90-91 Budget: $283,334, NYSDA

1989

• Issue Paper: Recommended Enhancements for the Public Defense Backup Center FY 90-91 With Budget Narrative, NYSDA

1988

• Defender Budgetary Request to Reduce Appellate Backlog and Delay, NYSDA

1987

• Legislative Recommendations Prepared at the Request of the Office of the Director of Criminal Justice, NYSDA

1986

• Eligibility for Public Defense Representation: The High Risks of Being Unable to Afford Counsel in New York State, NYSDA
• Public Defense Services in Clinton County: An Assessment of the Assigned Counsel System, NYSDA

1985

• Assigned Counsel Fees in New York State: Time for a Change, NYSDA
• Prosecution/Defense Funding Disparity Charts, NYSDA
• The Use of Expert and Investigative Services in Defense of the Poor: A Primer for New York State, NYSDA
• Public Defense Services in Ontario County: A Study of the Assigned Counsel System, NYSDA

1984

• Model Assigned Counsel Voucher, Voucher for Compensation and Expenses of Appointed Counsel Pursuant to Section 722-c of the County Law, NYSDA
• Model Public Defense System and The Model Defense Case, The Tools for the Professional Evaluation and Measurement of the Effective Assistance of Counsel in Local Practice, NYSDA
• Public Defense Services in Schenectady County: An Assessment of the Assigned Counsel Program, NYSDA

1983

• Correction Law Section 606: The Unfulfilled Promise, A Report by the Public Defense Backup Center on the Legislative History of Correction Law Section 606, NYSDA
• A Report of the Proceedings of the First Chief Defender Convening in New York State, NYSDA
• Standards for the Treatment of Crime Victims, Memorandum from Jonathan E. Gradess to Lawrence T. Kurlander, Director of Criminal Justice, and Sherrie McNulty, Counsel, NYSDA

1982

• The Crisis in Indigent Defense Funding: Testimony Before the American Bar Association Standing Committee on Legal Aid and Indigent Defendants, NYSDA

1980

• Proposal to Establish an Appellate Defender Office Covering the Third and Fourth Departments of New York State, Submitted to the National Legal Aid and Defender Association Appellate Defender Development Project, NYSDA

1973

• The Public Defender Office of Monroe County, New York: An Evaluation by the National Legal Aid and Defender Association, National Legal Aid & Defender Association

 


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