A strong and independent defense bar is an integral component of New York’s delivery of indigent defense services. From Hamilton’s defense of John Peter Zenger, to John Adams’ impassioned defense of the British soldiers after the Boston massacre to Clarence Darrow’s defense of Leopold and Loeb, the criminal defense bar has been indispensable to the effectiveness of our nation’s criminal justice system. As New York’s largest criminal defense bar association, NYSACDL strongly opposes any effort by New York City to reduce the articipation of private lawyers in the defense of New York’s less fortunate. The implementation of New York City’s Request for Proposal potentially undermines the right to counsel announced by the Supreme Court of the United States in Gideon v.Wainwright in 1963.

NYSACDL vigorously urges the New York Legislature to adequately fund our state’s criminal
defense system to comply with the mandate of Gideon.