Author: BXD

Rebecca testifies in front of New York City Council

Rebecca Engel testified in front of the City Council about proposed gang laws that would negatively affect the clients of The Bronx Defenders. She highlighted the drastic civil consequences young people charged with misdemeanors can potentially face, as well as the ways that this legislation would exacerbate the racial bias and over-policing problems we already […]

Robin travels to… Hawaii

The Oregon Criminal Defense Lawyers Association invited Robin Steinberg to speak at their Sunny Climate Annual Conference in Hawaii. Robin spoke about Holistic Defense and its benefits for clients and advocates alike.

Robin travels to… Israel

Robin Steinberg traveled this fall to Israel, where she met with Criminal justice leaders, judges, and public defenders at the US Embassy. She advocated with government officials for the integration of social workers into the public defender office and gave a talk at the Annual Public Defender Conference in Israel about the benefits and dangers […]

Ann travels to Michigan

Ann Mathews was the keynote speaker at the Southfield, Michigan library for an interfaith roundtable forum on public defense sponsored by the Michigan Campaign for Justice. The Campaign is a broad-based group of organizations and individuals from across the political spectrum fighting for a fair and effective public defense system in Michigan. She spoke about […]

Robin travels to… Maldova

Robin Steinberg traveled to Eastern Europe with the Justice Initiatives Program at OSI where she conducted skills training for young public defenders and worked with their idealistic advocates on making Holistic Defense a reality in Moldova.

New York Times: Stranger Posts Bail for Chambers’s Friend

When Robert E. Chambers Jr. was arrested on Oct. 22 on charges of selling cocaine out of an Upper East Side apartment, many people saw it as the denouement of a morality tale, the final fall of “the preppy killer” who pleaded guilty to strangling Jennifer Levin during rough sex in Central Park two decades […]

Cross-Sector Collaboration in Reentry: Building an Infrastructure for Change

By McGregor Smyth. Investment in an infrastructure for cross-sector collaboration is key to breaking the vicious cycle of poverty and crime. The criminal justice system is the institution with the single most pervasive impact on communities of poverty and of color. In those communities interaction with the police and courts, as well as incarceration, has […]

Public Benefits and Child Support Arrears

By McGregor Smyth. Individuals who are released from prison or jail and who need financial assistance until they are able to get on their feet are likely to apply for aid both from Safety Net Assistance (“SNA”), the New York State public assistance program for adults who do not share a household with children, and […]