Assembly Judiciary Committee Moves Public Defense Commission Forward

State and Five Counties Face Liability for Injustice Stemming from Continuing Crisis in Public Defense Statewide

ALBANY, NY (06/16/2009)(readMedia)-- Need for the Public Defense Act of 2009 Grows

In the shadow of a lawsut against the State of New York and five counties, the powerful Judiciary Committee in the State Assembly has passed the Public Defense Act of 2009 (A.8793). This bill limits the fiscal liability of counties and New York City for providing public defense services and creates an Independent Public Defense Commission to administer those services statewide. This would end the inequities created under the current county-by-county system for providing legal representation to people unable to afford counsel when accused of a crime or threatened with loss of their children due to family court action.

"Passing the Public Defense Act of 2009 this session is vital to counties, to the State, and to public defense clients," said Jonathan E. Gradess, Campaign Manager of the Campaign for an Independent Public Defense Commission. "Former Chief Judge Kaye called for reform, as has her successor, Chief Judge Jonathan Lippman, and a host of government and civic leaders statewide - the Legislature must act now."

The longstanding need for this reform was documented in 2006 by Judge Judith Kaye's Commission on the Future of Indigent Defense Services. A lawsuit based on the failure to provide constitutionally acceptable public defense services has been filed by the New York Civil Liberties Union against the State and the counties of Onondaga, Ontario, Schuyler, Suffolk, and Washington.