Public Defense Lawyers Celebrated, Trained, in Gideon v Wainwright's 50th Year

SARATOGA SPRINGS, NY (07/24/2013)(readMedia)-- The annual awards presented by the New York State Defenders Association (NYSDA) to lawyers exemplifying the "guiding hand of counsel" promised in the Gideon v Wainwright decision took on extra significance this year. The U.S. Supreme Court issued Gideon fifty years ago, and the anniversary is being observed throughout the year.

On Monday, NYSDA recognized an assistant public defender just entering her third year of practice and a lawyer who retired as a chief public defender about the same time the young lawyer began. And it honored a lawyer well-known for representing, pro bono, clients whose cases have made them unpopular, and for doing important work on social issues affecting both the criminal justice system and society at large.

The awards were presented during the Association's Annual Meeting and Conference in Saratoga, on the evening between two full days of continuing legal education (CLE). NYSDA provides affordable, high-quality CLE relevant to public defense practice at statewide as well as regional events as part of its continuing mission to improve the quality and scope of publicly supported legal representation to low income people.

Kathy Manley Receives Service of Justice Award

Kathy Manley's defense of Muslim Americans targeted for prosecution in the post 9/11 era, her insistence that constitutional and legal principles apply to sex offenders, her early recognition of widespread violations of the right to privacy by government agencies, and similar work have earned her criticism from some – and praise from those who understand she is truly serving justice. Manley received NYSDA's 2013 Service of Justice Award, which is presented to individuals and organizations who support the Defenders Association and its mission. She is an attorney in the Albany law firm of Kindlon and Shanks.

For Retired Wayne County Public Defender, "the Client was Everything"

Ronald Valentine was nominated for NYSDA's Wilfred R. O'Connor Award by a former assistant defender who said, "I had an opportunity to watch the dedication and talent that he brought to the position." V. Bruce Chambers, now in private practice and Director of the Wayne County Assigned Counsel Program, added, "To Ron, the client was everything." Valentine served on NYSDA's Board of Directors from 1983 to 1999, and was a friend of the late Bill O'Connor, a founding member and long-time President of NYSDA in whose honor the award was created eight years ago.

"We need attorneys like Angela Kelley to stay in public defense!"

Angela Kelley started working in the Essex County Public Defender Office the Monday after she took the bar exam in 2011. She learned quickly and well, attending NYSDA's Defender Institute Basic Trial Skills Program in 2012, and won the admiration of those who observed her work. Essex County Public Defender Brandon Boutelle, who nominated her for the Kevin M. Anderson Award shortly after Kelley moved to the Albany County Public Defender Office, praised Kelley's trial skills, and added that she is also "a rockstar appellate attorney and legal writer." North Elba Town Justice James Rogers, III, wrote to Kelley, "Please know that I appreciate the two years you spent in my court and the professionalism you brought to the table every time"; he lauded her sincere effort to give clients "the best representation available." In the nomination letter that led the Genesee County Public Defender Office to select Kelley for the award it created in memory of a lawyer known for his sense of justice, determination, and compassion, Boutelle wrote, "We need attorneys like Angela Kelley to stay in public defense!"

About the Awards

The Service of Justice Award, presented to individuals and organizations who support the Defenders Association and its mission, was first bestowed in 1981, to the North Shore Unitarian Society Veatch Program, which had provided grant funding to NYSDA for its Public Defense Backup Center. Since then, recipients have included a wide range of public defense lawyers, private attorneys, and other organizations that have provided direct assistance to NYSDA, engaged in exemplary practice, and achieved outstanding results in furtherance of equal justice for all.

Wilfred R. O'Connor was a founding member and long-time President of NYSDA. The NYSDA Board of Directors created the Wilfred R. O'Connor Award to remember Bill and honor his sustained commitment to the client-centered representation of the poor. The award is presented to an attorney who has been in practice fifteen or more years, practices in the area of public defense, and exemplifies the client-centered sense of justice, persistence, and compassion that characterized Bill's life. He served as a legal aid lawyer in Brooklyn and Queens, as director of the Queens Legal Aid office, as a member of Legal Aid's Attica Defense Team, as director of the Prison Legal Assistants Program, and as president of NYSDA from 1978 to 1989. He went on to complete his career as a judge in New York City. His beliefs were clear: every defendant, regardless of race, color, creed, or economic status, deserves a day in court and zealous client centered representation.

Kevin M. Andersen was a lifelong public defender. Those who worked with him knew him to have the ability to be angered to his core by injustice, the will to fight ferociously for his clients, and the compassion to grant the client the dignity each deserved as a human being despite whatever human frailties they might present. Following his death in 2004, the Genesee County Public Defenders Office created the Kevin M. Andersen Memorial Award to remember and honor his dedication to public defense work. This award is presented to an attorney who has been in practice less than fifteen years, practices in the area of indigent defense, and exemplifies the sense of justice, determination, and compassion that were Kevin's hallmarks.