New York City Issues RFP For Defense Services ============================================= On October 20, 1995, the Office of the Coordinator of Criminal Justice for the City of New York released a Request For Proposal (RFP) for nearly 20 percent of the New York City Legal Aid Society's (LAS) criminal caseload as well as the 2,500 criminal cases currently handled by the Neighborhood Defender Services of Harlem. The city is seeking to award one contract in each of the city's five boroughs for trial level representation of indigent criminal defendants, and contracts for indigent appellate representation in each of the city's judicial departments. Mayor Giuliani, in his press release announcing the RFP stated, "The issuance of this RFP fulfills my commitment made one year ago, when the strike by the Legal Aid Society staff attorneys threatened to cripple the operations of our city's criminal justice system ..." In response, the LAS stated that "... we are concerned for the taxpayers and our clients about a proposal which appears to prohibit the awarding of a citywide contract to the most cost-effective provider of quality services." Proposals will be reviewed and contractors will be selected by an Evaluation Committee comprising representatives from the Office of the Coordinator of Criminal Justice, the Law Department and the Office of Management and Budget. The deadline for submitting a proposal is December 1, 1995 with an anticipated selection date of January 17, 1996 and starting date of July 1, 1996. Coinciding with the RFP process, the Appellate Division, First Department promulgated court rules (22 NYCRR 613) to provide for the oversight of organizations contracting with the city to represent indigent criminal clients. The committee is expected to monitor the operations of the organizations providing indigent defense representation and to promulgate standards to ensure that "indigent defendants are afforded quality legal representation." The members of the oversight committee will serve on a voluntary basis for a three-year term. Hearings Held on Inmate Legal Services ====================================== On October 18, 1995, the State Senate's Crime Victims, Crime and Corrections Committee, chaired by Senator Michael Nozzolio, held a public hearing in Albany on inmate legal services. The hearing was prompted by a report released by Nozzolio, Inmates v. Taxpayers_Access to the Court or Excess Spending, which claims that frivolous lawsuits filed by inmates has resulted in the "taxpayers of New York . . . subsidizing the most generous and extravagant array of legal services for inmates in the entire nation ... " David Leven, Executive Director of Prisoners' Legal Services (PLS) and Daniel Greenberg, Executive Director of the New York City Legal Aid Society (LAS) testified at the hearing in response to the Committee's inquiries regarding their organizations' roles in prison inmate litigation. Leven and Greenberg explained that their organizations actually serve to reduce the amount of inmate litigation by screening out non-meritorious cases and encouraging inmates with frivolous claims not to file lawsuits. Among others who testified at the hearing were Attorney General Dennis Vacco, representatives from Council 82, the state's Correction Officer's union, and Anthony Annucci, Deputy Commissioner and Counsel for the Department of Correctional Services. NYSDA Comments on Death Penalty Court Rules =========================================== Pursuant to the requirements of the New York Death Penalty Statute, the Court of Appeals released for public comment proposed court rules that will be applicable in capital cases, as well as proposed minimum standards for lead and associate counsel in capital cases. @DNEWS TEXT = The New York State Defenders Association was one of 16 organizations or individuals that submitted to the Court comments concerning the: Proposed Rules of the Court of Appeals in Capital Cases; Proposed Uniform Court Rules for the Trial Courts in Capital Cases (includ-ing Uniform Rules for Capital Sentencing Forms and Uniform Rules for Capital Case Data Reports); and Proposed Minimum Standards for Lead and Associate Counsel in Capital Cases. The Association's extensive, 28-page memorandum to the Court of Appeals was submitted to ensure that the concerns of the public defense community are adequately presented. The Court is currently considering the comments and is expected to release a final version of the rules shortly. Capital Defender Office Outlines Procedures for Murder Case Arraignments ======================================================================== The Capital Defender Office has summarized the procedures to be followed at the initial appearance of any client charged with first and second degree murder. In an October 4, 1995 memorandum to all New York State criminal defense lawyers, the CDO discusses the statutory provisions and the arrangements made by that office to ensure that every first and second degree murder is handled in accord with the statutory and constitutional requirements. A copy of the memorandum was distributed to all assigned counsel programs, legal aid societies and public defender offices in the state. If you would like a copy of the memorandum, you should contact your local public defense program or the Capital Defender Office (Capital Defender, Louis Lefkowitz State Office Building, 80 Centre St., Rm. 266, New York, NY 10013; (212) 417-3187). Blue Sky Software Donates Software to NYSDA =========================================== The New York State Defenders Association recently received a generous software donation of RoboHelp and the WinHelp Video kit from Blue Sky Corporation of La Jolla, California valued at $500. With this award-winning software, NYSDA now has the ability to include "industrial strength" Windows help files in its Public Defense Case Management System (CMS). The CMS is presently awaiting beta testing as reported in the last issue of the REPORT. In addition to expediting the creation of an on-line Windows help system, RoboHelp's powerful document features and technical features enable users to print documents from the on-line help. This dual capability will greatly aid NYSDA in developing written documentation for the system. NYSDA thanks Blue Sky for its corporate commitment to support the efforts of the public defense community through its generosity. Appellate Division Approves Argument By Video Conferencing ========================================================== Driven by a continuing backlog of appeals, the Second Department will transfer civil cases to the Fourth Department with attorneys arguing the matters via video conferencing. In the judges' consultation room at the Second Department's courthouse in Brooklyn, lawyers will argue cases in front of cameras and monitors that will enable the lawyers to see and hear the Fourth Department's bench in Rochester.