Washington, DC (April 26, 2011) – The National Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers is pleased to announce that attorney John P. Gross of Syracuse, N.Y., has joined the association’s national office as Indigent Defense Counsel. As the staff attorney leading NACDL’s ongoing indigent defense reform efforts, Mr. Gross will help the association devise legislative and litigation strategies, working closely with NACDL’s leadership, committees, affiliates and pro bono outside counsel, as well as liaising with other legal and professional organizations.
“John Gross brings an extraordinarily broad background to this pivotal position,” said NACDL Executive Director Norman Reimer. “As a criminal defense lawyer with experience as a teacher of criminal defense practice and as a veteran staff attorney with one of the largest providers of indigent defense services, John is uniquely well positioned to guide NACDL’s national reform efforts. I am convinced that John Gross will elevate NACDL’s advocacy for indigent defense reform to new levels. We welcome him to NACDL’s superb public policy team.”
Mr. Gross responded, “I’m very excited to be working on this critical policy issue for NACDL. As ongoing litigation in both New York and Michigan illustrates, there are systemic problems with the provision of indigent defense services. The lack of adequate resources for indigent defense calls into question the fundamental fairness of our justice system. I look forward to working with the NACDL’s outstanding staff, dedicated membership and affiliate organizations on indigent defense reform so that Gideon’s promise finally becomes a reality.”
A 1999 graduate of Hofstra University College of Law, Mr. Gross comes to NACDL from Syracuse University School of Law, where he is Visiting Assistant Professor of Law and Acting Director of the school’s criminal defense clinic, where he supervises law students representing defendants in Syracuse City Court and town and village courts in Onondaga County. Prior to his teaching and clinical career, he was a staff attorney at the Legal Aid Society in New York City in the criminal division, where he represented indigent defendants at all stages of prosecution, from arraignment through disposition. Mr. Gross received his Bachelor of Arts degree from Georgetown University in 1995.
A law review article by Mr. Gross, “Dangerous Criminals, the Search for Truth and Effective Law Enforcement: How the Supreme Court Overestimates the Social Costs of the Exclusionary Rule,” was recently published in Volume 51 of the Santa Clara Law Review. In addition, he has given numerous presentations on ethical issues related to the practice of criminal defense. Mr. Gross will be starting at NACDL this summer, after he completes his teaching responsibilities at Syracuse University.
Contacts
NACDL Communications Department
The National Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers is the preeminent organization advancing the mission of the criminal defense bar to ensure justice and due process for persons accused of crime or wrongdoing. A professional bar association founded in 1958, NACDL's many thousands of direct members in 28 countries – and 90 state, provincial and local affiliate organizations totaling up to 40,000 attorneys – include private criminal defense lawyers, public defenders, military defense counsel, law professors and judges committed to preserving fairness and promoting a rational and humane criminal legal system.
