Documents
After extensive research and more than 130 interviews with key stakeholders, the Task Force identified several significant, persistent deficiencies in the system. This report explores those concerns and offers seven recommendations to assure a robust federal indigent defense system.
Nation's Criminal Defense Bar Issues Major Report; Calls for Greater Independence for Federal Indigent Defense System, NACDL News Release (Sept. 9, 2015)
Inside NACDL: A Fundamental Flaw in the Federal Indigent Defense System: Lack of Independence From Judicial Control, The Champion® Magazine, by Norman L. Reimer (August 2015)
Task Force Materials
Reports
- United States Courts, Criminal Justice Act: At 50 Years, A Landmark in the Right to Counsel (CJA at 50) [n.4]
- Report of the Committee to Review the Criminal Justice Act (1993) (Prado Report) [n.9]
- Report of the Judicial Conference of the United States on the Federal Defender Program (Judicial Conference Report of 1993) [n.14]
- Subcommittee on Long-Range Planning and Budgeting, Should the Structure of the Defender Services Program be Changed? Report to the Committee on Defender Services of the Judicial Conference of the United States (2005) (Gleeson Report) [n.19]
- Judicial Business of the U.S. Courts, 2012 Annual Report [n.24]
- Judicial Business of the U.S. Courts, 2014 Annual Report [n.24]
- AO’s 2013 Annual Report [n.25]
- Judicial Conference of the United States, Jurisdiction of Committees (2009) [n.28]
- US Courts, Judiciary’s Cost-Containment Efforts—Annual Report 2013 [n.50]
- Fiscal Year 2014: No Budget and a Government Shutdown – Annual Report 2013 [n.56]
- Vera Institute of Justice, Improving Public Defense Systems: Good Practices for Federal Panel Attorney Programs (May 2003) [n.76]
- New York County Lawyers Association Task Force on Judicial Budget Cuts, Courts in Crisis (Jan. 2014) [n.102]
- The CJA Supervising Attorney: A Possible Tool in Criminal Justice Act Administration (Report to the Judicial Conference Committees on Defender Services, Judicial Resources, and Court Administration and Case Management) (April 2001) [n.138]
Communications: Memoranda, Letters, and Emails
- Email from Pamela Hamrin to Joel Schumm, Oct. 17, 2014 [n.28]
- Email from Cait Clarke to Bonnie Hoffman, Nov. 12, 2014 (attachment) [n.29]
- Letter from Chief Judge Loretta A. Preska et al. to Honorable Joseph R. Biden, Jr., Aug. 13, 2013 [n.40]
- Memorandum to chief judges from Leonidas Ralph Mecham, July 1, 2004 [n.48]
- Memo to Judge John D. Bates, director, from Robert K. Loesche, general counsel, July 30, 2014 [n.58]
- Letter from Sen. Christopher A. Coons, chairman, and Sen. Jeff Sessions, ranking member, of the Senate Judiciary Committee on Bankruptcy and the Courts, to the Honorable William B. Traxler, Jr., Aug. 5, 2013 [n.69]
- Email from Judge Julia Gibbons, chair of the Budget Committee, to members of the Judicial Conference, Sept. 8, 2014 [n.92]
- Email from Andy Archuleta, Defender Services Office, Feb. 2, 2015 [n.99]
- Press Release: Criminal Justice Act Mentoring Program Approved for the Southern District of New York, Oct. 23, 2008 [n.111]
- Email from Bob Burke to Schumm, Jan. 5, 2015 [n.113]
- Response from DSO to Task Force inquiries, Jan. 6, 2015 [n.118]
- Memo from AO Director Judge Bates and DSC Chair Judge Blake, to all judges, Dec. 23, 2014 [n.127]
- Letter from Yolanda Barrera et al. to Hon. Dale Fischer et al., March 28, 2014 [n.135]
NACDL Materials
- Rationing Justice: The Underfunding of Assigned Counsel Systems (March 2013) [n.41]
- Problem-Solving Courts: The Criminal Costs of Treatment and the Case for Reform (September 2009) [n.41]
- Minor Crimes, Massive Waste: The Terrible Toll of America’s Broken Misdemeanor Courts (April 2009) [n.41]
- Resolution of the Board of Directors of the National Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers (Mar. 7, 1992) [n.88]
- Resolution of the Board of Directors of the National Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers Urging Congress to Fully Fund the Criminal Justice Act (April 25, 1998) [n.95]
- Resolution of the Board of Directors of the National Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers Concerning Judicial Pay Legislation (Jan. 7, 2009) [n.101]
Other
- Compilation of Background History and Information, U.S. Defender Program [n.16]
- ABA Ten Principles of A Public Defense Delivery System [n.26]
- Richard A. Posner & Albert H. Yoon, What Judges Think of the Quality of Legal Representation, 63 Stan. L. R. 317 (January 2011) [n.38]
- Securing Reasonable Caseloads: Ethics and Law in Public Defense (November 2011) [n.39]
- Solicitation for Grant Proposals [n.44]
- Grant award [n.44]
- Sequestration’s Biggest Victim: The Public Defender System by Sam Stein and Ryan J. Reilly, Huffington Post (Jul 22, 2013) [n.53]
- Opinion: Defendants’ Legal Rights Undermined by Budget Cuts by Eric Holder, Washington Post (Aug. 22, 2013) [n.55]
- U.S. Courts, Mission – Defender Services [n.60]
- Assistant Director, Office of Defender Services, Position Description [n.61]
- Position Description for Laura Minor [n.64]
- Standard Order Adopting CJA Plan, Western District of Texas Midland/Odessa and Pecos Divisions (May 3, 2010) [n.78]
- Criminal Justice Act Plan, United States District Court For the Northern District of Alabama (Sept. 17, 2015) [n.79]
- Order Adopting Amended CJA Plan, U.S. District Court for the Western District of Texas El Paso Division (July 22, 2013) [n.80]
- Federal Defender Fact Sheet [n.89]
- Statement of Michael S. Nachmanoff, Federal Public Defender for the Eastern District of Virginia, on Behalf of the Federal Public and Community Defenders, Sequestering Justice – How the Budget Crisis is Undermining Our Courts hearing before the Senate Judiciary Subcommittee on Bankruptcy and the Courts (July 23, 2013) [n.89]
- Letter to the Editor: Defending the Indigent by Norman L. Reimer, New York Times (Apr. 12, 2013) responding to an editorial [n.90]
- Guide to Judiciary Policy § 230.60 Attorney Compensation for Travel Time [n.100]
- Southern District of Texas Address, Hours, Phone Information Southern District of Texas [n.104]
- Criminal Justice Act Plan 2011, United States District Court for the Southern District of Texas McAllen Division [n.105]
- U.S. Department of Justice, U.S. Attorneys — Training [n.116]
- Prompt Payment, U.S. Treasury Department Bureau of the Fiscal Service [n.130]
- ABA Criminal Justice Section Standards, Defense Function [n.131]
- Questionnaire for CJA Panel Reps regarding current system in place in their jurisdiction (non-capital, non-appellate cases)
- Questionnaire for Chief Defenders
Media inquiries should be directed to NACDL’s Public Affairs & Communications Associates, Jessie Diamond and Kate Holden.
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