NYSDA Supports Governor's Call for Criminal Justice Reform; Public Defense Must be Included

ALBANY, NY (12/05/2014)(readMedia)-- Governor Andrew Cuomo is right. It is time to reform the State's criminal justice system.

The New York State Defenders Association (NYSDA) joins those calling for fundamental change. Recent events in New York and nationwide have highlighted what public defense lawyers and their clients have long known - racism and unfairness plague the current system. As the Governor has said, comprehensive action is needed to restore faith in the justice system; injustice blights every level, from policing through the court system, in jails and prisons, and in the treatment of people released but kept under supervision.

The appointment of special prosecutors when police kill members of the public may help prevent local cover-up of improper use of deadly force. But not every victim of misplaced police force dies. Many live, and often are charged with a crime, such as assault or resisting arrest, to cover up police misconduct. Public defense lawyers should have a critical role in ending injustice in those - and in all - cases. They should be able to investigate client claims of police instigating physical altercations, or reacting with undue force when clients instinctively pull away when grabbed by an arm. But when investigative resources are lacking, that doesn't happen.

Systemic criminal justice reform must include public defense reform. The Governor has taken the first step, with the settlement of the Hurrell-Harring lawsuit, to address severe public defense deficiencies in five counties. But such deficiencies exist statewide. The Governor needs to take the next step by including adequate funding for the entire public defense system in the upcoming budget, and the Legislature needs to pass it.

On other fronts, grand jury reform needs to include better protections from prosecutorial misconduct; prosecutors can unjustly skew the proceedings against suspects just as effectively as they can skew it for police who kill. Indeed, a former Chief Judge famously pronounced that under our current system a prosecutor could indict a ham sandwich. If we are to bring our adversarial system back into balance, so that the right to counsel counters police and prosecutorial overreaching, then great reforms must occur. We need an independent defense function sufficiently resourced to counter the heavy weight of the government. Further, lawyers should have access to all the evidence against clients, and evidence that favors them, early enough to prepare a defense.

Governor Cuomo is right that we must look at, and reform, the whole system, including the legal representation provided to people who cannot afford to hire a lawyer.