ALBANY – Judges on the state’s highest court expressed concern yesterday that they would be writing what one called a “blank check” by reinstating a challenge to New York’s system of providing legal representation to indigent criminal defendants.
Under persistent questioning by Judge Robert S. Smith, New York Civil Liberties Union attorney Corey Stoughton conceded that lawyers for plaintiffs in the case do not know how much it would cost to significantly improve the effectiveness of counsel assigned to indigent defendants.
