The state Legislature unanimously passed a bill in June requiring the state to reimburse localities for the cost of providing mandated legal services; this addresses a multi-faceted problem dating back to 1965. Gov. Andrew Cuomo has many reasons to sign A10706/S 8114, and I urge him to do so. Fairness and justice are at the heart of this bill, the Public Defense Reform Act. The bipartisan, statewide support that it has garnered illustrates the many interests that it furthers.
The right to legal services, regardless of one’s ability to pay a lawyer, is crucial to the enforcement of many other rights. In 2015, the state settled a case brought on behalf of underserved clients in five counties across New York City, agreeing to provide state funding so public defense lawyers have adequate resources and requiring that every eligible client will have a lawyer at their first court appearance. The state also agreed to set caseload standards, including the sufficient hiring of lawyers and to create eligibility standards for representation.
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