Community Oriented Defender Network | Spring 2010 Update
The COD Network is taking strides to address racial disparities in the criminal justice system and expand the Network's reach. We want to share with you some recent efforts to improve justice for indigent defendants: a new Brennan Center report on addressing racial bias in prosecutions and a brief recently filed by the Center, in partnership with allies, challenging systemic deficiencies in Michigan's indigent defense system. We also want to alert you to new opportunities for collaboration and support in three areas: 1) addressing racial and ethnic disparities, 2) expanding holistic defense practices, and 3) reducing incarceration of people with mental illness.
SAVE THE DATE!
Summer is fast approaching, and with it, our annual COD Network conference. This year's conference will be held at New York University Law School on July 22 & 23rd and will focus on the many projects that defenders are engaged in that embody the recently developed COD Statement of Principles.
We will be in touch with more details soon, but mark your calendars!
FIGHTING FOR RACIAL JUSTICE
Brennan Center Releases New Report on Reducing Racial Disparities in Prosecutorial Decisionmaking
On April 14th the Brennan Center released a new report, Racial Disparities in Federal Prosecutions, which offers DOJ, Congress and other stakeholders a roadmap for reducing racial and ethnic bias in the federal criminal justice system.
In 2005, we brought together 13 former U.S. Attorneys to share views on racial and ethnic disparities vexing the system and to craft a solution. The Guid
elines that emerged through their dialogue urge corrective action in six areas:
i) decisions to charge and offer pleas,
ii) decisions to investigate and to arrest,
iii) systems for training,
iv) systems for holding decision-makers accountable,
v) community relations, and
vi) sentencing policy reform.
Published initially in the Federal Sentencing Reporter in 2007, the Guidelines have yet to be adopted by the Department of Justice.
We are re-releasing the Guidelines as they continue to provide an ideal foundation for reducing disparities. New momentum for change exists: Congress is considering legislation that would require DOJ to collect data on racial disparities; Attorney General Eric Holder and many other public officials are publicly championing criminal justice system reform; and in our state courts, reform initiatives are alive and dynamic. We have set the report in current context by providing a new foreword authored by the Center's board chair, James E. Johnson, and a new introduction by the Center's Nicole Austin-Hillery, Counsel & Director, DC Office, and Melanca Clark, Counsel. The report also includes a summary of the original dialogue among the prosecutors
The report urges DOJ to embrace the Guidelines and to take a significant step towards addressing the corrosive effects of racial and ethnic biases in the system and we are continuing to work with DOJ and the Congress to realize the promise of racial justice reform.
Brennan Center Joins Amicus Brief in Challenge to Indigent Defense System in Michigan
On March 29th, the Brennan Center joined the National Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers, the NAACP Legal Defense & Educational Fund, and the Constitution Project in filing an amicus brief before the Michigan Supreme Court in Duncan et al. v. the State of Michigan, a constitutional challenge to the systematic deficiencies of Michigan's indigent defense system brought by the American Civil Liberties Union Fund, the American Civil Liberties Union Fund of Michigan, Cravath, Swaine & Moore LLP, and Michigan attorney, Frank D. Eaman.
The plaintiffs, individuals charged with crimes in three Michigan counties, challenge the provision of defense services to indigent persons as constitutionally insufficient and seek declaratory and injunctive relief. The case is on appeal to the Michigan Supreme Court and the amici on this brief urge the Court to allow the case to proceed.
In addition to supporting the plaintiffs' assertion that the state's deficient system of indigent defense creates an "imminent and irreparable risk" that defendants will be denied their constitutional right to effective representation, the brief argues that many of the harms that defendants experience due to having absent or ineffective counsel occur at the pre-trial and pre-conviction stages of their case, making the plaintiffs' request for prospective relief necessary and appropriate. These harms cannot adequately be remedied after-the-fact by post-conviction proceedings, the brief argues, and thus the Court should address them here, write the amici.
Lastly, the amici explain that the harms caused by the challenged system are borne disproportionately by individuals of color - African Americans are almost five times more likely to rely on appointed counsel than whites, and this disparate impact has negative consequences for the community at large. A cycle of distrust and hostility is perpetuated by communities' perception of two systems of justice, "one for people with means and an inferior system for the disproportionately minority poor."
OPPORTUNITIES FOR COLLOBORATION & SUPPORT
There's Still Time to Submit Proposals for Racial Justice Projects!
The Brennan Center seeks concept papers for "Defender-Led Challenges Against Racial/Ethnic Disparity in the Criminal Justice System" in response to a request for proposals issued by the Center earlier this year. With the support of our funders, we are able to partner with a COD member organization advocating for racial justice in its jurisdiction. If you are interested in submitting a project for possible funding, visit our website for details. The deadline for submission has been extended to May 15, 2010.
Any questions about submitting a concept paper should be directed to Melanca Clark, Director of the Community Oriented Defender Project, at melanca.clark@nyu.edu or 212-992-8639.
Assistance for Moving Toward Holistic Defense
Our friends at The Bronx Defenders have received a DOJ grant to create "The Center for Holistic Defense" this year, an exciting opportunity to expand the multi-pronged defense work in which all of our COD members are involved. The grant will enable the organization to provide technical assistance and support to public defender programs seeking to integrate holistic defense into their practice.
If your office or others are interested in applying, contact The Bronx Defenders to learn more and download the RFP here. The deadline is May 21, 2010.
Mental Health Advocacy with the Bazelon Center
On April 16th, 2010, COD director Melanca Clark attended a workshop at this year's annual convening of the American Council of Chief Defenders of the National Legal Aid and Defender Association, focused on how the mental health and indigent defense communities can work together to reduce incarceration, promote effective diversion, and foster smoother re-entry of people with mental illness. The workshop was coordinated by the Bazelon Center, one of the nation's leading legal organizations advocating for people with mental disabilities.
The Bazelon Center is interested in working with public defender programs on matters involving discriminatory policies and practices that cause people with mental illness to be incarcerated unnecessarily and/or for needlessly long periods of time. Some examples are:
- Exclusion of persons with serious mental illness from participating in programs that would help keep them from incarceration, such as alternative sentencing programs, pretrial diversion programs, electronic monitoring programs, and day incarceration centers;
- Keeping persons with serious mental illness in jail while awaiting trial due to lack of sufficient community mental health services;
- Exclusion of incarcerated persons with serious mental illness from programs that would get them out of jail or prison such as early-release and work-release programs;
- Exclusion of incarcerated persons with serious mental illness from substance abuse and other re-entry programs;
- Improper release planning, including failure to ensure access to community mental health services, housing, and SSI benefits upon release.
If you would like discuss these issues or Bazelon's services, please contact Bazelon at 202 467 5730, or email Karen Bower, karenb@bazelon.org, or Andrew Penn, andrewp@bazelon.org. Further information about Bazelon and their criminalization work can be found at www.bazelon.org.
If your office has not yet signed up to be a member of the COD Network, visit our website to learn more about joining the Network.
