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January 31, 2012
NEW YORK STATE BAR ASSOCIATION
UNVEILS LEGISLATIVE PRIORITIES FOR 2012
With the aim of ensuring “Justice for All,” the New York
State Bar Association’s 2012 legislative agenda calls for
adequately funding the courts and legal services for the poor;
protecting the innocent from wrongful conviction; extending Family Court
services to older adolescents; simplifying the state’s complicated
court system; and updating laws governing nonprofit organizations.
“Ours is a common-sense agenda, intended to ensure
our justice system protects the rights of all New Yorkers, rich and
poor,” said State Bar President Vincent E. Doyle III of Buffalo
(Connors & Vilardo). “We seek to protect the innocent from
being found guilty of crimes they did not commit, allowing the guilty to
be free to commit more crimes. We recognize that 16- and
17-year-olds, accused of nonviolent crimes, are children and would be
best served in family court. We renew our call for simplifying our court
structure, whose complexity serves neither justice nor taxpayers,”
he said. “We urge the Governor and Legislature to act on these
measures.”
The New York State Bar Association’s 2012
legislative priorities are:
Protecting the integrity of the justice
system: Every day, New York courts resolve criminal
cases, business disputes, family matters and other pressing legal
concerns. In doing so, they perform a vital function in a free and
stable society.
Adequate funding for our courts is essential. In
the current economic climate, court caseloads have soared.
However, during the past year, the Judiciary incurred significant budget
cuts, employee layoffs and reductions in court operations. Nevertheless,
the courthouse doors remained open to all New Yorkers. Although the
doors were open, they were open for fewer hours, adversely affecting
court operations. That is a finding of a recent New York State Bar
Association statewide survey of judges, attorneys and others in all 13
judicial districts. Limited courthouse hours and staff reductions have
created delays in resolving everything from child custody disputes to
murder cases. The promise of “Justice for All” is strained
because low-income litigants lack access to pro-bono coordinators
who can help them find an attorney to represent them. Reductions in jury
pools have taxed the system, which results in criminal defendants
spending further delays resulting in criminal defendants spending more
time in jail awaiting trials. Courthouse delays also add to the legal
costs borne by litigants.
“Recent reductions in state court funding have been quite
costly,” our January 2012 report concluded. “Although state
fiscal constraints are very real in this economy, additional and
imminent investment in the state court system is necessary. It is
necessary to restore a sense of confidence in the judicial system, which
ultimately is priceless.” The State Bar Association’s
“Report of the Executive Committee on the Impact of Recent Budget
Cuts in New York State Court Funding” is available in its entirety
at www.nysba.org/CourtFundingReport.
Improving the public defense
system: Criminal defendants who cannot afford an
attorney have the right to effective counsel under the U.S. and
New York State constitutions. In 2010, the state Office of Indigent
Legal Services was created because of concerns that constitutional
standards were not always being met. We support sufficient funding for
the office so that it can perform its mission of supporting the fair and
efficient operation of New York’s public defense system.
Funding civil legal
services: In order for the courts to provide justice
for all, it is important that low-income individuals have an attorney
when facing serious civil legal problems, such as a family breakup,
apartment eviction, home foreclosure and denial of social service
benefits. State funding for civil legal services for the poor remains
inadequate. Adequate funding provided by a dedicated revenue stream is
necessary and prudent. The Judiciary’s proposed 2012-13
budget recognizes the substantial unmet need for civil legal services
and includes $25 million to supplement other funding to address the
need. Investing resources to promptly protect individual rights will
save substantial dollars that otherwise would be spent by government for
social services, housing and other programs.
Preventing wrongful convictions:
No person should spend a day in prison for a crime he or she did not
commit. Our criminal justice system must ensure that the innocent remain
free and the guilty are not free to commit additional crimes. To achieve
this objective, the Association has drafted a package of bills intended
to eliminate some common causes of wrongful convictions. The bills
would: establish a procedure for police officers to follow when
conducting eyewitness identifications; authorize those who have pleaded
guilty to ask the court to order a DNA; provide strengthened financial
remedies for individuals who were wrongfully convicted; confirm the
validity of evidentiary treatment of informant testimony; mandate
electronic recording of custodial interrogations; and better enforce the
obligation of prosecutors to disclose exculpatory material.
Protecting children during custodial
interrogations: The Association’s proposal for
requiring recording of custodial interrogations is even more imperative
when a child is the subject of an interrogation. Children often lack the
maturity and judgment to understand the potentially life-altering
consequences of statements they make during an interrogation. Therefore,
the Association has proposed a bill to specifically require the
recording of custodial interrogations of children.
Raising the age of criminal
responsibility: New York is one of two states that
prosecutes 16-year-old children accused of nonviolent crimes as adults.
Being convicted of a nonviolent crime can affect an individual’s
future education or employment. However, research demonstrates that
children— even as old as 16 and 17— have significantly
diminished judgmental capabilities, compared with those of adults. By
increasing the age of criminal responsibility to 18, adolescents could
benefit from programs and services available for children found to be
delinquent in Family Court.
Revising the Not-For-Profit Corporation
Law: New York has thousands of not-for-profit
organizations, including foundations, charities, hospitals, social
service agencies, colleges, museums and religious organizations.
They are vital to the well-being of our people and the economy. The
Not-For-Profit Corporation Law should be modernized to encourage
organizations to incorporate and maintain their investment assets
in New York; to reduce unnecessary burdens; and to streamline
nonprofit governance in a manner consistent with meaningful
oversight. The proposal also would make the statutory framework for
non-profit corporations and business corporations more consistent.
Reorganizing and simplifying the state court
system: New York has one of the most complex and cumbersome
court systems in the nation. It has nine major trial courts, plus town
and village courts. A core problem is the existence of many courts with
limited jurisdiction. More than 4 million new cases are filed each year.
With burgeoning caseloads, problems and inefficiencies have increased
because of the confused and, sometimes, overlapping jurisdiction of
multiple courts. Adoption of a simplified two-tier state trial court
structure would enhance the public's understanding of the court system
and permit all aspects of a matter to be heard in a single court. It
also would save money for taxpayers as well as litigants. Accomplishing
this goal will require amending the state Constitution.
Supporting the legal
profession: A core mission of the New York State Bar
Association is to represent the interests of the legal profession. In
that regard, the Association will work to protect the independence of
the Judiciary, enhance access to the courts, promote affirmative
legislative proposals that benefit the profession, and oppose those
proposals that would burden it. The Association will work to ensure that
attorneys are able to protect their clients’ interests and
effectively engage in the practice of law.
The 77,000-member New York State Bar Association is the
largest voluntary state bar association in the nation. It was
founded in 1876.
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