On July 24-25, 2015, The Bronx Defenders’ Attorneys present at the 16th National Conference on Children and the Law in Washington, DC. This conference offers targeted trial skills training for attorneys representing parents in child abuse and neglect cases through demonstrations, mock trial exercises, and ‘ask the experts’ discussions. Bronx Defenders presenting at the conference include Family Defense Attorneys Shlomit Cohen and Kate…
On July 22-23, 2015, The Bronx Defenders’ Attorneys and Social Workers presented on three panels at the 4th National Parent Attorney Conference: Achieving Justice Against the Odds in Washington, DC. Bronx Defenders presenting at the conference include Managing Director of the Family Defense Practice Emma Ketteringham, Family Defense Attorney Jessica Horan-Block, Family Defense Social Worker Caitlin Becker, and Family…
The Courts & Legal Services Committee and the Fire & Criminal Justice Services Committee recently held a joint hearing, ‘Examining the New York Bail System and the Need for Reform.’ The hearing, chaired by Council Member Rory Lancman and Council Member Elizabeth Crowley, looked at how to reform our dysfunctional bail system. “Our bail system…
The Bronx Defenders held their 2015 Community Block Party on Wednesday, July 8 at the organization’s headquarters of 360 E. 161st Street. The block party included a barbecue, performances from local musicians, face painting, basketball tournaments, balloon animals, pony rides, carnival games, and other activities. By Steven Goodstein To see photos click here.
In a move heralded as a reform to the city’s criminal justice system, Mayor de Blasio recently unveiled a $17.8 million plan to replace bail with “supervised release” for some defendants accused of misdemeanors or nonviolent felonies. Once the program rolls out next year, officials anticipate that judges will be able to order community supervision…
NEW YORK CITY (TIP): The Courts & Legal Services Committee and the Fire & Criminal Justice Services Committee recently held a joint hearing, ‘Examining the New York Bail System and the Need for Reform.’ The hearing, chaired by Council Member Lancman and Council Member Elizabeth Crowley, looked at how to reform our dysfunctional bail system….
BxD’s Managing Director of Social Worker, Elizabeth Keeney, presented at the NLADA’s Community Oriented Defender Network Annual Conference on Wednesday, July 15th, 2015. She participated on the panel “Mandatory Reporting for Social Workers in Defender Offices.” A description of the panel: All 50 states and the District of Columbia have enacted some permutation of mandatory…
On August 21-23, 2015, four of The Bronx Defenders’ Social Workers and Civil Legal Advocates will be presenting on two panels at the 2015 National Organization of Forensic Social Work (NOFSW) Conference in Arlington, VA. The 32nd Annual NOFSW Conference, entitled “Forensic Practice: Promoting Social Justice for All Through Policy and Practice Reform,” is committed to advancing a new…
The 2015 Holistic Defense for Public Defender Offices Technical Assistance Project Request for Proposals Deadline: August 21, 2015 Overview The Center for Holistic Defense, a project of The Bronx Defenders, is a resource center for public defender offices, individual advocates, policy makers and others who seek to adopt a more holistic approach to public defense…
Criminal justice reform advocates reacted with guarded optimism to Mayor Bill de Blasio’s proposed bail reform package, designed to keep more low-level, nonviolent offenders out of the troubled Rikers Island jail facility. From police reform activists to the public defender community, those who work with some of the most vulnerable defendants say the program —…
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 law is not the problem. The fact that judges routinely disregard the law and the options provided for under the law is the issue.” — Robyn Mar, Director of Early Advocacy New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio plans to end bail for low-level offenders, allowing them to await trial under home supervision. We…
Thousands of people accused of misdemeanors and nonviolent felonies will stay out of Rikers Island under a $17.8 million pretrial supervision program, Mayor Bill de Blasio announced Wednesday. The program comes as local officials try to reduce violence at the Rikers Island jails and while they grapple with concerns the criminal justice system discriminates against…
A nationwide movement for bail reform scored a significant victory on Wednesday, as America’s largest city announced a new initiative to reduce the number of people it forces to await trial behind bars. Starting next year, New York City will spend $17.8 million to supervise an estimated 3,000 low-risk defendants, instead of requiring them to…
New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio is set to announce an overhaul of the city’s bail system on Wednesday that is designed to keep low-level offenders out of Rikers Island. The plan, which offers 3,000 offenders supervised release in lieu of bail, will help “reduce both the financial and human costs of needless incarceration,”…
Nearly a decade later, Angelo Clement vividly remembers the phone call that changed his life. The then 14-year-old high school freshman was home alone on a school night in his small one-bedroom apartment in midtown Manhattan, where both he and his mother lived, when a teacher called looking to speak with his mother. Clement told…
Next Monday, June 29, 2015, The Bronx Defenders, together with the office of New York City Council Member Andy King, Power of Faith Ministry, and Gunhill Civic Group, will be hosting a free legal clinic for community members. The legal clinic will address criminal record errors on rap sheets (i.e. when things come up on a criminal background…
Earlier this week, Justine Olderman, Managing Director of the Criminal Defense Practice, Robyn Mar, Director of Early Advocacy, and Noelle Turtur, Project Associate, submitted testimony on behalf of The Bronx Defenders before the New York City Council Committees on Courts and Legal Services and Fire and Criminal Justice on the dire need for reform of the New York…
The death of a 22-year-old man who hanged himself after spending three years as a teen jailed without trial should spur New Yorkers to push for bail reform, City Council members said at a hearing Wednesday. City Council Speaker Melissa Mark-Viverito said Kalief Browder’s death “has been a wake-up call for many in our city…
Last Friday, June 12, we welcomed over 30 of our clients’ families to The Bronx Defenders’ Justice Campus for an evening of festivities at the Celebration of Families! With musical performances by B.E.A.T. NYC, arts and crafts, a large meal with food donated by local establishments and staff, a raffle with all donated prizes, and inspiring client…
In a country where criminal defendants are innocent until proven guilty, Kalief Browder spent three years in jail awaiting trial on charges of stealing a backpack when he was 16, because he couldn’t afford bail. The charges were eventually dismissed and Browder, who was never convicted of anything but had served a lengthy sentence, was…
Former Bronx Defenders Trial Chief David Feige writes in Slate about the problem with the bail system and one simple way to fix it: On Sunday, John Oliver devoted the majority of his HBO show to America’s broken bail system. “Bail” is the cash or property equivalent demanded of arrestees as surety—an assurance that they…
In his short eulogy of Kalief Browder, The Atlantic’s Ta-Nehisi Coates wrote that the teenager’s death — he hanged himself with an air-conditioner cord in his home in the Bronx, after three years of torment by the legal system — “must necessarily be laid at the feet of the citizens of New York, because it…
The Bronx Defenders applauds the New York City Council for passing the Fair Chance Act, a bill that will give New Yorkers with criminal records a fair chance to compete for jobs. The Fair Chance Act will prohibit all public and private employers in New York City from asking about an applicant’s criminal history until…
A move to restrict visiting rights on Rikers Island—billed by the Department of Correction as a necessary step to control violence—that faced opposition from legal rights groups went nowhere Tuesday at a meeting of jail regulators. The Board of Correction decided to hold off on the proposal pending further study. The Board is considering whether…
