Suit Targets State's Public Defense System

By SARAH PORTLOCK, Special to the Sun
November 9, 2007

New York State does not provide effective counsel to the indigent throughout the legal process, according to a class action filed against the state by the New York Civil Liberties Union yesterday. The suit, filed in New York State Supreme Court in Albany, cites a 2006 report by the state's chief judge, Judith Kaye, which concluded that the state's public defense system is "severely dysfunctional" and "structurally incapable" of providing people effective legal representation.

Court-appointed lawyers are overwhelmed by huge caseloads and a lack of sufficient staff to adequately represent clients, and as a result many defendants appear in court without a lawyer, the suit says.

The suit asks the court to declare the state system unconstitutional and to set statewide standards for public defense, establish an oversight mechanism, and adequately fund the public defense services.

"The public defense crisis in New York is unfair both to defendants and to the lawyers who are charged with representing them," an attorney for the NYCLU, Corey Stoughton, said in a statement.

A spokesman for Attorney General Andrew Cuomo said that as of last night the legal papers had not yet been received by the state and he could not comment.