Middletown Attorney Norman Shapiro Receives Award

SARATOGA, NY (07/26/2011)(readMedia)-- Norman Shapiro, a private attorney practicing in Orange County and founding member of the New York State Defenders Association (NYSDA), received the Association's Service of Justice Award on July 25 in Saratoga Springs.

Shapiro was present when NYSDA began, forty-four years ago. He was elected a Vice-President in 1980, a position he held until stepping down from the board at the 44th Annual Meeting and Conference July 24-26.

But Shapiro did not receive NYSDA's Service of Justice Award on the basis of longevity or even just for loyalty to the Association, but for his continued efforts to improve the quality of public defense representation statewide, his determined efforts to give his own clients the best possible representation, and his dedication to the idea that mastering forensic evidence and other skills was necessary to prevent injustice in criminal matters.

He was a member of the Technical Working Group on Crime Scene Investigation that produced Crime Scene Investigation: A Guide for Law Enforcement in 2000, funded by the U.S. Department of Justice, Office of Justice Programs. As an Adjunct Assistant Professor of Police Science at Orange County Community College and a member of the active class of the International Association of Arson Investigators, Shapiro had the background needed to assist other attorneys in cases involving forensic arson evidence.

Others honored by the Association this year include Stephen J. Pittari, recently retired Chief Counsel and Executive Director of the Legal Aid Society of Westchester County, who also received the Service of Justice Award; Gary Horton, Genesee County Public Defender, who received the Wilfred R. O'Connor Award, which honors a public defense attorney in practice fifteen or more years who exemplifies the client-centered sense of justice, persistence, and compassion that characterized the late Bill O'Connor's life; and Heather Toole, Ulster County Assistant Public Defender, who was presented with an award created by the Genesee County Public Defender Office in memory of a young staff lawyer, Kevin M. Andersen, whose hallmarks were a sense of justice, determination, and compassion.

NYSDA, a not-for-profit, membership organization, has been providing support to New York's criminal defense community since 1967. Its mission is to improve the quality and scope of publicly supported legal representation to low income people.