Former Chief Justice of the Georgia Supreme Court Leah Ward Sears mentioned The Bronx Defenders as a model for how public defender offices should operate! “There are proven alternatives in our state and across the country that are effective in helping people move past an arrest, address the problems that led to it, make its…
A new, nationwide legal task force with key city players is helping anxious immigrants who face deportation because of petty crimes they pled guilty to years ago. A recent U.S. Supreme Court ruling that lawyers have a constitutional obligation to inform clients they might be deported if they plead guilty has reenergized defender groups across…
Robin Steinberg spoke at the Community Lawyering Symposium at the Seton Hall Law Center for Social Justice Scholars. She was joined by other attorneys, advocates and students at this interactive forum discussing what it means to be a community lawyer. Community Lawyering seeks to critically examine litigation and creatively combine it with non-traditional forms…
Robin Steinberg spoke at the Lives in the Law Speaker Series at the University of Texas. “Lives in the Law” is an occasional speaker series spotlighting the professional experiences of lawyers who work to improve the lives of others through public services. She was featured in a segment called “Fighting for Justice in the Bronx”…
Robin Steinberg spoke on the panel “Criminal Justice: Is the system failing us?” at the 6th Annual Harry F. Guggenheim Conference on Crime in America. The conference was on “Facing the Legal and Economic Challenges to the American Criminal Justice System” and took place at John Jay College.
Robin Steinberg spoke at NYU’s Leaders in Public Interest Series, “Is Social Justice Best Promoted by Being a Prosecutor or Public Defenders”. She spoke about her experience as a public defender.
Bronx, New York – January 26, 2011 – The Center for Holistic Defense, a project of The Bronx Defenders is inviting Public Defender offices from across the country to submit a request for technical assistance. Through this competitive process, three (3) public defender offices will receive hands-on expert assistance to transition from a traditional service model…
Robin Steinberg attended the National Institute of Justice (NIJ) Workshop on The Role of Courts in Re-Entry in Washington, D.C
Robin Steinberg spoke at the International Perspectives on Indigent Defense, a workshop jointly sponsored by the Department of Justice’s Access to Justice Initiative (ATJ) and the National Institute of Justice’s (NIJ) International Center. The workshop focused on identifying the best of practices for indigent defense. “The vast majority of criminal defendants in the United States…
New York City could save tens of millions of dollars a year if it did not incarcerate thousands of defendants charged with minor crimes — like hopping a turnstile, smoking marijuana in public or trespassing — before their trials, according to a new report by advocacy group Human Rights Watch. In 2008 alone, the city…
A new report finds that while each year tens of thousands of people arrested for minor offenses are released pending a trial or some other outcome, a substantial number that can’t afford bail and end up in Rikers Island for things like shoplifting, smoking marijuana or getting in fights. The report by Human Rights Watch…
A new report by the Human Rights Watch finds that thousands of people accused of minor crimes end up in Rikers Island each year only because they cannot afford to pay even small amounts of bail. Read what The Bronx Defenders’ Executive Director, Robin Steinberg, has to say… New York Times: “The client is placed…
The distribution of indigent criminal defense cases among the groups that serve as primary providers in New York City has been significantly altered by the Office of the Criminal Justice Coordinator. Read what The Bronx Defenders’ Executive Director, Robin Steinberg, has to say… Read more here.
Thousands of people arrested on low-level crimes in New York City spend days languishing in jail, not because they have been found guilty but because they are too poor to post bail, according to a report to be released on Friday. The report, which examines the bail conditions for people charged with nonfelonies like smoking…
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…
Police Encounters & Misconduct 1. When can police stop me on the street? In theory, the police cannot stop you on the street without reason. A New York State Court of Appeals case (People v. DeBour 40 N.Y. 2d 210) established four levels of street encounters between police and people, and allows a different “Permissible…
Voting Rights and Civic Participation Civic participation includes all the ways citizens participate in the democratic process. It includes the right to vote, serve on a jury, and run for elected office. Voting Rights In New York State, as long as you are a U.S. citizen 18 or older, you can vote unless you are currently in…
Parental Rights 1. Can I lose my parental rights if I am convicted of a crime? Only very serious criminal convictions against a child – like murder and manslaughter – require the state to sue to terminate your parental rights. 2. Can I lose my parental rights if I am sentenced to prison or a residential treatment…
Records of Arrest and Prosecution If you have been convicted, or even arrested, for a crime, there is a record of it, often in many places at once. The court where you were sentenced maintains records of your criminal case, and those are public information available to credit reporting agencies. A record of your arrests…
Government Benefits and Education Loans If you are a New York State resident you can apply for and receive government benefits like Food Stamps, Medicaid, TANF and cash assistance, no matter how many convictions you may have on your rap sheet. However, arrest and incarceration can temporarily affect your government benefits and your eligibility for…
Housing and Reentry A criminal history can affect your eligibility for both public housing and, if a landlord conducts a background check, private housing. An arrest – even before anyone is found guilty – can often trigger eviction of you or your entire household from public or private housing. Federally Subsidized Housing (NYCHA & Section…
Employment & Reentry 1. An employer said it wouldn’t hire me because it doesn’t hire anyone with a criminal record. Is that legal? No. Employers must consider each person as an individual. Refusing to hire all people with criminal records violates Title VII of the Civil Rights Law of 1964, the New York State Corrections…
Non-citizens involved in the criminal justice system confront additional and severe civil consequences. Even if you have lived in the United States for a long time or if you have ties to the U.S. and family here, guilty pleas and convictions can lead to an immediate detention and the initiation of deportation (also called “removal”)…
The term “reentry” is used by many advocates, service providers, policy-makers, and formerly incarcerated people to define what happens to people coming home from prison. More broadly, it describes a process of reintegration, rehabilitation, and restoration of rights that should begin when an individual is arrested. “Collateral consequences,” is a popular label for the legal,…
The Center for Holistic Defense, sponsored by BJA and a project of The Bronx Defenders, has announced the recipients of its 2010 Holistic Defense for Public Defender Offices Technical Assistance Project. In response to its Request for Proposals, the Center received 23 applications from public defender offices across the country. The three offices chosen are…