New York's Public Defense System Neglected States Advocate

• by PoliticalNewsToday.com

ALBANY, NY (10/27/2009)(readMedia)-- "New York is failing to fulfill the requirements of Gideon" the 1967 Supreme Court decision that requires legal assistance be provided to indigent criminal defendants stated Jonathan Gradess, executive director of the NYS Defenders Association in an interview published today on the Empire Page website.

"The statutory system created in 1965 is a sprawling, defective, balkanized bureaucracy in which too little funding and a lack of standards combine with a lack of accountability and local under-resourcing to propel people to prison and jail without having their day in court," Gradess stated.

The Defenders Association was formed in 1967 to support those involved in the various public defense offices and programs. In 1978, NYSDA established a Public Defense Backup Center that "provides research and advice, conducts training programs, maintains a website, publishes a newsletter, and maintains an expert witness bank."

A link to entire interview with Gradess can be found in the Improving New York section of The Empire Page.

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