Category: Publications
The Problem with NYC’s Bail Reform
Our Executive Director, Robin Steinberg, published the following piece in The Marshall Project about the city’s proposal to reform the bail system: “Yesterday, the city unveiled a plan to largely eliminate cash bail for New Yorkers charged with low-level or nonviolent crimes. This long overdue step has the potential to reshape pretrial detention in New York City […]
The Week: Preventing another Eric Garner tragedy: 6 simple reforms we can implement right now
In the last two weeks, grand juries failed to indict the white police officers who killed Michael Brown and Eric Garner. These decisions have exposed deep-seated issues of race, class, and power that still pervade our society. We should keep protesting injustice where we see it, as thousands have done across the country. At the […]
New York Daily News: Robin’s Steinberg’s Op-Ed – The wrong way to reform NYC’s pot policing policy
Read our Executive Director Robin Steinberg’s op-ed on New York City’s new marijuana enforcement policy in New York Daily News: New York City cannot solve the problem of discriminatory and overly-harsh marijuana policing by cramming more people into the overburdened summons court system. This week, Mayor Bill de Blasio announced a new policy aimed at […]
The Champion: Criminal Justice in the 21st Century: Eliminating Racial and Ethnic Disparities in the Criminal Justice System
Our Executive Director Robin Steinberg wrote an article on racial disparities in the criminal justice system that was featured in The Champion. The article draws from discussions at the National Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers’ conference report, Criminal Justice in the 21st Century: Eliminating Racial and Ethnic Disparities in the Criminal Justice System. An excerpt […]
Heeding Gideon’s Call in the Twenty-First Century: Holistic Defense and the New Public Defense Paradigm
By Robin G. Steinberg, 70 Wash. & Lee L. Rev. 961, Washington and Lee Law Review (Spring 2013) In September of 1997, eight public defenders squeezed into a small storefront office between a Radio Shack and a Rent-A-Center across the street from the courthouse in the South Bronx to practice a new kind of public […]
“Collateral” No More: The Practical Imperative for Holistic Defense in a Post-Padilla World”
By McGregor Smyth. One warm night last summer, Terrence was hanging out with some friends on a South Bronx sidewalk when two police officers approached and forced them to empty their pockets. Terrence received a summons for having a marijuana cigarette. A month later he showed up in the criminal courthouse by Yankee Stadium to […]
From “Collateral” to “Integral”: The Seismic Evolution of Padilla v. Kentucky and Its Impact on Penalties Beyond Deportation
By McGregor Smyth. From the moment of arrest, people charged with crimes find themselves caught in a web of punitive sanctions, in danger of losing their jobs, homes, children, and right to live in this country. Politicians over the past thirty years, eager to be “tough on crime” at the expense of being smart on […]
The Four Pillars of Holistic Defense
While recognizing that Holistic Defense is practiced along a spectrum, the following core principles, or pillars, underlie and form the foundation of any successful Holistic Defense practice: 1. Seamless access to services that meet clients’ legal and social support needs; 2. Dynamic, interdisciplinary communication; 3. Advocates with an interdisciplinary skill set; 4. A robust understanding […]
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 […]
Beyond Lawyering: How Holistic Representation Makes for Good Policy, Better Lawyers, and More Satisfied Clients
By Robin Steinberg. Lisa looked older than she was–her face and body aged too quickly by a childhood marked by abandonment, sexual abuse, and betrayal. Her teenage years spent as a prostitute; her adulthood ruled by an uncontrollable heroin addiction. I met Lisa when I was a young public defender in New York City in […]