June 8, 2010
STATE BAR ASSOCIATION COMMENDS SENATE COMMITTEES FOR
ADVANCING WRONGFUL CONVICTIONS LEGISLATION
Codes and Judiciary
Committees Report State Bar Proposals
New York State Bar Association President
Stephen P. Younger of New York (Patterson Belknap Webb & Tyler LLP)
today commended the Senate Codes Committee for reporting out of
committee the remaining four bills of the State Bar’s six-bill
package of legislation to reduce the occurrence of wrongful convictions
in New York. Last week, the Senate’s Codes and Judiciary
Committees separately reported the other two bills.
“When a person is wrongfully convicted of
a crime, not only is that person’s life devastated, but the
confidence and the trust that citizens place in our justice system is
significantly eroded,” said Younger. “To combat this
injustice, the State Bar Association introduced comprehensive
initiatives that would significantly reduce the number of wrongful
convictions. I am pleased to see that these measures are advancing in
the Legislature and I want to commend the members of the committees, as
well as the legislative sponsors, for their untiring efforts in moving
this critical legislation forward.”
Last week, the State Bar held a news conference
in Albany to announce the introduction of the package of legislation.
The legislation is based upon the recommendations of the State
Bar’s Task Force on Wrongful Convictions created in 2008 by Past
President Bernice K. Leber of New York City (Arent Fox LLP). In a report
issued last year, the Task Force concluded that wrongful convictions
resulted from multiple factors including identification procedures,
government practices, mishandling of forensic evidence, defense
practices, the use of false confessions and the improper use of
jailhouse informants. The report is available on the State Bar’s
website at www.nysba.org/wcreport. The bills are
available online at www.nysba.org/presskit.
####
The 77,000-member New York State Bar
Association is the official statewide organization of lawyers in New
York and the largest voluntary state bar association in the
nation. Founded in 1876, NYSBA programs and activities have
continuously served the public and improved the justice system for more
than 130 years. www.nysba.org
| 
News Center
