The New York State Bar Association is joining civil liberties and other groups in trying to get better legal help for the state’s poor citizens. Onondaga County is at the center of the controversy over providing fair legal representation.
When a person faces legal problems and cannot afford a lawyer, most of us believe one gets provided to them. Well that’s a good idea in theory…but it isn’t working out that way in practice. State Bar Association President Claire Gutekunst says most of the burden for paying for those lawyers falls on counties…some of which can only afford a few public defenders.
“The caseloads on the individual attorneys are way too high so they don’t have the time to adequately represent the individuals. There’s a lack of funds for support services.”
Things necessary for a adequate defense, such as investigators and research, also go wanting. People might remember the Gideon Versus Wainwright Supreme Court Decision guaranteeing representation. But a case can become unfair early on.
“Oftentimes at the arraignment there’s no council, which means maybe a person gets too high a bail set, they can’t make bail. They can’ get out of jail; they lose their job. There’s a spiral there; there’s a real impact on society of the failure to provide adequate representation.”
Onondaga County was one of five counties that sued over having the state take over the costs of public defenders. Before it went to court, the state settled – but only for those five counties. Senator John DeFrancisco helped pass the bi=partisan bill to expand it.
“So the point of this bill is to centralize that responsibility, put the responsibility for funding back on the state and then the state, we hope, will have the ability to make sure there is a consistent level of indigent legal defense provided across the state.”
The Bar Association and civil liberties groups see this as a fairness issue – so the poor can have a fair shake if they find themselves in court. County governments call the current system an unfunded mandate the state has pushed on them. If Governor Cuomo signs the bill, there will be a seven year phase in that advocates say will make public defense more fair and equitable is all parts of the state.
