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Date: April 29, 2024 Mon
Time: 10:00 pm
Time: 10:00 pm
Results for criminal defense
6 results foundAuthor: Kemp, Vicky Title: Transforming Legal Aid: Access to Criminal Defence Services Summary: With legal aid costs increasing significantly over recent years the previous Government and Legal Services Commission (LSC) had embarked on a programme of transforming the legal aid system. The intention of the reform programme was to control rising costs and to provide a sustainable legal aid scheme for the future. With the formation of the new Government in May 2010, reform of legal aid remains high on its agenda. Indeed, an internal policy assessment into legal aid is currently being undertaken with a view to developing proposals for reform of legal aid, on which views will be sought in the autumn. With legal aid reform having the potential to change the organisation of criminal defence services, the LSC had asked the Legal Service Research Centre (LSRC) to undertake a survey of users in the criminal justice system. Over 1,000 people were interviewed and asked about their choice and use of a solicitor. Interim findings were published by the LSRC in November 2008. These findings have helped to highlight potential barriers to legal advice. With a paucity of research having been undertaken recently into criminal legal aid, further research has been conducted in order to examine access to criminal defence services within the changing context of the wider criminal justice system. Details: London: Legal Services Research Centre, 2010. 145p. Source: Internet Resource: Accessed October 15, 2010, at: http://lsrc.org.uk/publications/TransformingCrimDefenceServices_29092010.pdf Year: 2010 Country: United Kingdom URL: http://lsrc.org.uk/publications/TransformingCrimDefenceServices_29092010.pdf Shelf Number: 119984 Keywords: CourtsCriminal DefenseLegal AidLegal Assistance to the Poor |
Author: Montgomery, John D. Title: Cost of Counsel in Immigration: Economic Analysis of Proposal Providing Public Counsel to Indigent Persons Subject to Immigration Removal Proceedings Summary: In this paper, NERA Senior Vice President Dr. John D. Montgomery presents analysis of the estimated costs and offsetting savings of a proposal to create a program, entirely funded by the Federal government, to provide counsel to every indigent respondent in immigration removal proceedings under 8 U.S.C. § 1229a. Dr. Montgomery was asked to conduct this analysis pro bono by the law firm Wilmer Cutler Pickering Hale & Dorr LLP on behalf of the New York City Bar Association. Based on calculations using available data and reasonable assumptions, annual fiscal savings to the Federal government (between approximately $204 and $208 million) for detention, foster care, and transportation outlays would pay for most if not all of the entire annual cost of the proposal (approximately $208 million). These quantifiable fiscal savings are above and beyond the non-quantifiable and qualitative aspects of the proposal, which include improvements to the accuracy and efficiency of immigration removal proceedings and reduction in uncertainty for immigrants and their families. Details: New York: NERA Economic Consulting, 2014.37p. Source: Internet Resource: Accessed June 11, 2014 at http://www.nera.com/nera-files/NERA_Immigration_Report_5.28.2014.pdf Year: 2014 Country: United States URL: http://www.nera.com/nera-files/NERA_Immigration_Report_5.28.2014.pdf Shelf Number: 132435 Keywords: Costs of Crime Criminal DefenseImmigration Detention |
Author: Boxall, Hayley Title: Brief review of contemporary sexual offence and child sexual abuse legislation in Australia Summary: The following report provides a brief overview of the offences that an individual who sexually abuses a child in an institutional setting may be charged with at the end of 2013. Information provided for each of the identified offences includes: the location of the offence in the respective state or territory's legislation; the age of the victim (where relevant); - aggravating factors - for the purpose of this review, restricted to factors relating to: the age of the child; - the relationship between the offender and victim; and - whether the victim has an intellectual impairment, physical disability or mental illness; the maximum penalty. The offences included in this review have been divided into a six sections: contact sexual offences where the child is below the legal age of consent (16, 17 or 18 years old depending on the jurisdiction and nature of the sexual act); contact sexual offences where the child is above the legal age of consent; contact sexual offences where the age of the victim is not specified; non-contact sexual offences; child pornography offences (production); and offences for which institutions and/or their representatives that were aware of child sexual abuse may be charged. Only offences relating to individuals located within Australia are included in this review. Further, while there are other defences that may be used to refute charges brought under sexual offence or child sexual abuse legislation (for example, honest and reasonable belief that a person was over a certain age and similarity in age between the victim and offender), the only defence that is considered in this report is consent. Details: Canberra: Australian Institute of Criminology, 2014. 66p. Source: Internet Resource: AIC Special Report: Accessed September 15, 2014 at: http://www.aic.gov.au/media_library/publications/special/006/Brief-review-sex-abuse-legislation.pdf Year: 2014 Country: Australia URL: http://www.aic.gov.au/media_library/publications/special/006/Brief-review-sex-abuse-legislation.pdf Shelf Number: 133327 Keywords: Child Pornography Child Sexual Abuse Criminal Defense Criminal Law Reform Sex Offenders Sexual Violence |
Author: Smith, Alisa Title: Rush to Judgment: How South Carolina's Summary Courts Fail to Protect Constitutional Rights Summary: In response to disturbing stories of constitutional violations uncovered by NACDL and ACLU attorneys documented in 2016's Summary Injustice report (below), NACDL undertook additional investigation of South Carolina's summary courts. Law students and legal professionals gathered information about court proceedings in five South Carolina counties over three months in the winter and spring of 2016, the results of which are published in this follow-up report. Each day, the team observed court hearings in various venues, observing individuals charged with everything from shoplifting to driving offenses to unlawful possession of tobacco and alcohol. In every court studied for this report, the team found egregious, repeated constitutional violations happening daily and in hundreds of cases. In the months of court watching and data collection, researchers documented numerous findings, all of which are set forth in the Rush to Judgment report. Findings from this study and Summary Injustice lead NACDL to suggest the following five recommendations for reform to ensure that South Carolina's courts operate in accordance with constitutional mandates and guarantee procedural justice for those whose lives will forever be altered as a result of a criminal adjudication: Staff South Carolina’s summary courts with prosecutors and public defenders and ensure that courts are presided over by judges who are licensed attorneys. Reduce the caseload of magistrate and municipal courts by decriminalizing traffic offenses. Reduce fines and fees, and consider alternative sanctions for those who cannot afford to pay. Increase uniform reporting of criminal and traffic cases in summary courts to include data regarding whether defendants had counsel and whether and how defendants were informed of their rights. Enact uniform procedures for magistrate and municipal courts regarding advisement of rights and plea colloquies. Ensure that all defendants understand their rights and the direct and collateral consequences of a guilty plea or verdict. Details: Washington, DC: National Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers, 2017. 52p. Source: Internet Resource: Accessed February 8, 2017 at: https://www.nacdl.org/summaryinjustice/ Year: 2017 Country: United States URL: https://www.nacdl.org/summaryinjustice/ Shelf Number: 145011 Keywords: Constitutional RightsCourt ReformCriminal CourtsCriminal DefenseDue ProcessMagistrate CourtsMunicipal CourtsSummary Courts |
Author: Marsh, Andrea M. Title: State of Crisis: Chronic Neglect and Underfunding for Louisiana's Public Defense Systems Summary: The crisis in public defense in Louisiana has been well-documented by the news media over the past several years. Stories of overloaded public defenders, unrepresented individuals languishing in jail, and mass pleas have shocked the nation's conscience, but the system's shortcomings have long evaded reform. However, much coverage of the public defense crisis in Louisiana, the state with the highest incarceration rate in the nation, has focused its attention on the consequences of the crisis rather than its causes. Through interviews and review of publicly available documents, NACDL compiled a history of Louisiana's public defense system from 1963 to the present, uncovering some of the structural issues that have led to a system that exists in a constant state of emergency. While acknowledging that representation in Louisiana has improved overall since 2007, the report found several deficiencies including funding disparities, lack of independence, and inadequate quality of representation. Based on these findings, the report presents six recommendations for reform in Louisiana: The Louisiana Legislature should fully fund the provision of public defense services in Louisiana from general revenue. The Louisiana Legislature should repeal the public defender fee on convictions and public defender application fee, and replace local revenue for public defense with state general revenue. If local revenue is a necessary transitional measure before sufficient state revenue is available to fully fund public defense, changes to local revenue streams that will make them more stable and equitable should be adopted. Louisiana should establish parity between the defense function and the prosecution. Louisiana judges should respect the independent professional judgment of lawyers who provide public defense services, including their determinations that a conflict prevents them from accepting or maintaining representation of a case. Louisiana judges should release from detention accused individuals for whom the state cannot provide counsel due to its under-funding of the public defense system. LPDB and the defender community should re-focus on improving the quality of representation rather than merely surviving the next crisis. Details: Washington, DC: National Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers, 2017. 48p. Source: Internet Resource: Accessed April 17, 2017 at: https://www.nacdl.org/louisianapublicdefense/ Year: 2017 Country: United States URL: https://www.nacdl.org/louisianapublicdefense/ Shelf Number: 144987 Keywords: Criminal DefenseIndigent Defense Legal Aid Public Defenders |
Author: Owens, Emily Title: Examining Racial Disparities in Criminal Case Outcomes among Indigent Defendants in San Francisco Summary: As in most places in the United States, Californians of color are overrepresented in correctional facilities. According to a recent Public Policy Institute of California report, there are approximately 4,400 Black men in California prisons per 100,000 people, which amounts to five times the incarceration rate of Latino man, almost ten times the incarceration rate of White men, and 100 times the incarceration rate of Asian men. The cause of these disparities is a source of tremendous debate among practitioners, policymakers, and academic alike, and potential explanations include variation in socioeconomic status, access to employment or education opportunities, differential patterns in policing, and variation in charging and sentencing decisions by prosecutors and judges. In this report, we document that Black, White and Latinx indigent defendants in San Francisco have substantially different experiences during the criminal adjudication process. Specifically, defendants of color are more likely to be held in custody during their cases, which tend to take longer than the cases of White defendants. Their felony charges are less likely to be reduced, and misdemeanor charges more likely to be increased during the plea bargaining process, meaning that they are convicted of more serious crimes than similarly situated White defendants. In addition, Black and Latinx defendants are more likely to plead guilty, and the nature of those pleas are different; Black defendants plead guilty to more charges than White or Latinx defendants, while Latinx defendants plead guilty to a smaller fraction of the charges they are booked for than Black or White defendants. After examining multiple potential causes of these differences, we find that the majority of the variance can be explained by two factors: the initial booking decisions made by officers of the San Francisco Police Department and racial differences in previous contact with the criminal justice system in San Francisco County. With the cooperation of the San Francisco Public Defender's Office ("Public Defender," hereafter), the Quattrone Center for the Fair Administration of Justice analyzed the court records of over 10,000 cases taken on by the Public Defender. We further analyzed a subsample of more than 250 full case files detailing case elements that include discovery, email exchanges, investigation and forensic reports, affidavits, and victim statements. The goal of our quantitative analysis was to identify whether there have been differences in the processing and adjudication of Black, White, and Latinx defendants, and if so, to statistically explain the source of those differences to guide policymakers and stakeholders in understanding and addressing these disparities. Identifying the characteristics which result in racially disparate outcomes will allow the Public Defender, the San Francisco District Attorney, the San Francisco Police Department and other criminal justice stakeholders to take positive actions to reduce disparate treatments in the criminal justice system. Details: Philadelphia: Quattrone Center for the Fair Administration of Justice, University of Pennsylvania Law School, 2017. 105p. Source: Internet Resource: Accessed July 27, 2017 at: https://www.law.upenn.edu/live/files/6793-examining-racial-disparities-may-2017-full Year: 2017 Country: United States URL: https://www.law.upenn.edu/live/files/6793-examining-racial-disparities-may-2017-full Shelf Number: 146581 Keywords: Criminal DefenseIndigent Defense Legal Aid Public Defenders Racial Disparities |