July 1996 Defender News


State Moved to Preserve NYSDA and Other Public Defense Funding

After the tireless campaign waged by members of the Association, public defense providers and others, nearly all the budget cuts in public defense funding proposed in the FY 1996/97 Executive Budget have been restored. The final state budget restores funding for the New York State Defenders Association Public Defense Backup Center, the Aid to Defense (ATD) program, the Indigent Parolee Representation Program (IPP) and Prisoners' Legal Services (PLS). The Executive Budget had totally eliminated NYSDA, IPP, PLS and reduced the ATD appropriation by 27%, but maintained level funding for Aid to Prosecution.

All of these budget cuts would have had a drastic impact on both the quality and effectiveness of public defense services in New York State. However, after NYSDA members, public defense providers, county officials and bar associations made the case for state funding to the Governor and the Legislature, nearly all of the threatened programs were restored in the final budget to their FY 1995/96 funding levels. While total elimination of the IPP was averted, its funding, unfortunately, was reduced significantly from $1,154,000 to $691,000. NYSDA greatly appreciates the support of all those involved in the refunding effort.

The Aid to Defense Program was restored to its FY 1995/96 level of $13,837,300, of which $10,765,419 is earmarked for the New York City Legal Aid Society. NYSDA and PLS also received level funding of $822,000 and $3,560,000, respectively.

A total of $7,290,800 was appropriated for capital defense representation, with approximately $5.2 million allocated for the Capital Defender Office and the remaining $2.1 million for the payment of attorney compensation and expert and investigative fees pursuant to 35-b of the Judiciary Law.

The state budget also contained federal funding under the Federal Anti-Drug Abuse Program for some public defense programs, including NYSDA.

New and Severe Immigration Consequences of Criminal Convictions

The Anti-Terrorism and Effective Death Penalty Act of 1996, recently signed into law, changes the rules for immigrants who are in criminal court.

Previously, many criminal convictions served as auto-matic grounds for deportation, but with certain convictions a permanent resident (here at least seven years) could argue equities in immigration court and possibly avoid deportation.

Now, the list of convictions serving as automatic grounds for deportation is greatly expanded and the availability of equitable relief is almost nonexistent, no matter how long a person has been here. The result is that a "good plea" may have dire consequences for the immigrant-defendant.

The Anti-Terrorism Act: Automatic Grounds for Deportation

The Anti-Terrorism Act: A Very Real Danger of Deportation

Immigrants convicted of deportable offenses may face expedited deportation hearings in any federal, state or local correctional facility, or may be taken into custody and deported upon release from incarceration. Immigrants who do not serve time for deportable offenses still risk deportation by any action that brings them to the attention of the INS, such as returning from a trip abroad, applying for citizenship, or requesting a new green card.

What Can Defense Counsel Do?

Look for More Information and Training Sessions in the Fall

(The above outline was prepared by Phyllis Kaplan of the Northern Manhattan Coalition for Immigrant Rights, Two Bennett Ave., 2nd Floor, New York, NY 10033, (212) 781-0355.)

Legal Aid Society Loses Suit to Halt City Plan to Redistribute Cases

The Legal Aid Society recently lost a legal challenge to the City's award of contracts to three new public defense providers for 7% of the work previously performed by the Society. Judge David Saxe ruled that the Society's Article 78 petition was barred by the four month statute of limitations. Among the issues raised was the City's refusal to consider a proposal from Legal Aid in response to its Request for Proposals (RFP) for indigent defense services.

In addition to appealing the state court decision, LAS has filed a suit in the federal district court for the Southern District of New York. This action alleges that the City violated federal labor laws by contracting with other organizations in retaliation for an October 1994 strike by Legal Aid lawyers.

Meanwhile, the Giuliani Administration will seek additional bids for some of Legal Aid's criminal trial work in Manhattan, Staten Island, and the Bronx, and appellate work in the First Department.

Amnesty International Reports on Police Brutality in NYC

On June 26, 1996, the human rights organization Amnesty International (AI) released a report which found an unsettling pattern of abuse and excessive force by officers of the New York City Police Department. The 72-page report noted a substantial increase in recent years in the number of claims of police misconduct against the City of New York, from 977 in 1987 to more than 2000 in 1994. The report followed an 18-month investigation, which included two research visits to NYC and the review of more than 90 individual cases of alleged misconduct by NYC police officers from the late 1980's to 1996. Among the allegations asserted in the cases were mistreatment of suspects, use of excessive force, deaths in custody and unjustified shootings by officers. The vast majority of abuses were reported in black, Hispanic and Asian neighborhoods, and more than two-thirds of the cases reviewed involved suspects belonging to racial minorities.

While conceding that it could not reach conclusions on the accuracy of the charges in many cases, the Amnesty report concluded, "The information gathered suggests that police brutality and unjustifiable force is nevertheless a widespread problem." The AI report recommended that the city conduct its own inquiry into these matters.

Mayor Rudolph W. Giuliani criticized the report as "scattershot" and "not a real analysis." Police Commissioner Howard Safir characterized the report as "short on facts and long on hype." In response to the AI report, the United Nations Human Rights Commission said that it would begin its own inquiry into the New York City Police Department.

Microsoft Donates NT Software for Case Management System Development

Thanks to a generous donation from Microsoft Corporation, the NYSDA Case Management System (CMS) development team now has both Microsoft Windows NT server software and Windows NT workstation software to further its efforts to implement a statewide case management system for public defense offices. As we have previously reported in the Backup Center REPORT, NYSDA is developing a public defense Case Management System which is in preliminary field testing at this time.

In addition to furthering the CMS development with both software packages, the 20-user licensed copy of Windows NT server, together with the six copies of Windows NT Work-station, will support the daily operations of NYSDA's Public Defense Backup Center.

NYSDA thanks Microsoft for its corporate support of the Association's efforts to improve the quality of public defense services throughout the state.

Capital Defender Office Board Announces New Appointments To Screening Panels

The Board of Directors of the Capital Defender Office (CDO) have announced the appointments of Peggy Cooper Davis and Cynthia Diaz-Wilson to fill vacancies on the screening panels for the First and Second Judicial Departments, left by the deaths earlier this year of Professors Haywood Burns and Shanara Gilbert, who were killed in a car accident in South Africa on April 2nd.

"Haywood Burns and Shanara Gilbert were exceptional people, and each made enormous contributions as lawyers and teachers," said Arthur L. Liman, Chair of the Board of Directors of the CDO. "Their deaths were a tragic loss. We are fortunate that lawyers as gifted as Peggy Cooper Davis and Cynthia Diaz-Wilson have agreed to devote their time, experience, and judgment to this important public service."

The screening panels consist of four members serving two-year terms. The panels will establish, for each judicial department, a roster of attorneys in private practice who are qualified to represent indigent persons charged with capital crimes.

Professor Peggy Cooper Davis is joining the Screening Panel for the First Judicial Department. Professor Davis is the John S. R. Shad Professor of Law at New York University, where she has taught since 1983. Before joining the NYU faculty, she was a Family Court judge. She served as Deputy Criminal Justice Coordinator for the City of New York from 1978 to 1980.

Cynthia Diaz-Wilson, appointed to the Second Judicial Department Screening Panel, is a criminal defense lawyer in the Village of Hempstead. She served on the board of directors of the Nassau County Bar Association from 1989 to 1992 and is currently a member of the Association's Judiciary Screening Committee, and is vice-president of the Black and Hispanic Bar Association of Nassau-Suffolk.

Professor Davis and Ms. Diaz-Wilson each will serve the remainder of a one-year term, which expires in August, and then will be reappointed to two-year terms.