Michael S. Pollok rightly decries New York’s failure to comply with the constitutional command to provide counsel at arraignments in many areas of the state, a violation that is only now beginning to be addressed in the wake of the Court of Appeals’ ruling in Hurrell-Harring v. State of New York, 15 N.Y.3d 8 (2010) (“Use Video Hook-Ups for Arraignments,” Jan. 15, 2014).

But his prescription for a quick cure, the use of Skype or other audio-visual applications to facilitate arraignments is a bad idea. Shortcuts that separate clients from their lawyers, or keep defendants from actually appearing in a courtroom, degrade the attorney-client relationship and the proper functioning of the courts.

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