The Legal Intelligencer Blog

Fairness Commission Calls for Improvements in Indigent Defense

By Amaris Elliott-Engel
Of the Legal Staff

The Pennsylvania Interbranch Commission for Gender, Racial and Ethnic Fairness has asked the state Supreme Court to work with the commission to increase diversity among the lawyers who are appointed to represent indigent criminal defendants not represented by public defenders, according to the commission's annual report released today.

Six committees of the commission work on policies and procedures to eliminate racial, ethnic and gender bias in the judiciary. The commission was created in 2005 after the state Supreme Court commissioned a study to examine the prevalence of racial and gender bias in Pennsylvania courts; that study was released in 2003.

Philadelphia Chief Defender Ellen Greenlee, who is serving on a state commission examining the issue of indigent defense in Pennsylvania, said during a meeting of the commission today that Pennsylvania is the only state in the United States that does not provide state funds for indigent defense.

The indigent-defense commission, which will release its report in the next few months, wants to "move it off the blackboard and onto the agenda of the state legislature."

Once the report is launched, Lisette M. McCormick, who is both the director of the commission for fairness and a member of the indigent defense commission, said that a statewide coalition will be formed to educate the public and legislators about how the lack of state funding for indigent defense results in deficient legal representation for defendants.

Speakers at the meeting today included Philadelphia Bar Association Chancellor Rudolph Garcia, Philadelphia District Attorney Seth Williams and Greenlee.

Williams said many Philadelphians of color feel that the criminal justice system is an oppressor of their communities, not protectors of them.

But in order to achieve fairness in the courts, criminal justice leaders have to focus on victims, Williams said.

But many victims are young black men who are just as likely to be shot as to be the shooter, Williams said. There is overlap between assailants and victims on the "Venn diagram" of crime in the city because the number one cause of death for young black men is homicide, Williams said.

Eight people were killed last weekend in Philadelphia, he said, which did not make headline news. But if eight tourists from Sweden had been killed while visiting Philadelphia, the city would be thrust into lockdown in order to solve gun violence, Williams said.

"When we think about fairness and justice we have to think that -- those men in that diagram -- that their lives are just as important," Williams said.

The Legal will have more coverage of the latest report from the commission in an upcoming section of its Pennsylvania Law Weekly section.

Amaris Elliott-Engel is a reporter for The Legal. She can be contacted at 215-557-2354 or aelliott-engel@alm.com. Follow her on Twitter: @AmarisTLI.

Phila. Bar Association Opposes Immigration Bills

By Amaris Elliott-Engel
Of the Legal Staff

The Philadelphia Bar Association has submitted testimony opposing 14 immigration bills pending in Pennsylvania's House of Representatives' State Government Committee.

Among other proposals, the bills proposed a requirement that law enforcement officers who stop anyone "who is or should reasonably be suspected of being unlawfully present in the United States" must produce a government-issued identification card; a requirement that employers must screen applicants in a database; and a requirement that all adult applicants for public benefits must produce photo identification.

The written testimony by Philadelphia Bar Association Chancellor Rudolph Garcia argues that the bills would impair the rights of people who are citizens or lawful residents of the United States, not just illegal immigrants. The solution is to pressure the federal government to act to secure the country's borders, not to enact "a patchwork of inconsistent state laws," Garcia wrote.

"We believe the best approach to a sensible immigration policy is comprehensive regulation and enforcement at the federal level," Garcia wrote. "It is far easier to control immigration at our borders than to sift through our entire population to determine which of us are rightfully here. The latter approach is like adding salt to your food, then trying to remove it again one grain at a time. Yet that is the method proposed by the current package of legislation."

Garcia also wrote that the Philadelphia Bar Association does not condone unlawful immigration.

State Rep. Daryl D. Metcalfe, R-Butler, is the primary sponsor of the bills. Metcalfe says on his website that the legislation is modeled after Arizona legislation and would "provide our law enforcement with full authority to apprehend illegal aliens for deportation; to punish employers who knowingly hire illegal aliens; and to eliminate public benefits, welfare, education, and all other economic attractions for illegal aliens."

The full testimony is available here.

Amaris Elliott-Engel is a reporter for The Legal. She can be contacted at 215-557-2354 or aelliott-engel@alm.com. Follow her on Twitter: @AmarisTLI.

New York's Chief Judge Advocates for Civil Legal Aid

By Amaris Elliott-Engel
Of the Legal Staff

Civil legal aid for the poor is in crisis, Jonathan Lippman, chief judge of the state of New York, told the attendees of the Philadelphia Bar Association quarterly luncheon today.

Eight of 10 people looking to be represented by the civil legal services are turned away for the lack of attorneys in New York and Pennsylvania, Lippman said.

Lippman said that civil legal services should no longer be mostly funded by interest earned on attorney trust accounts or court fees. He said those revenue streams are sensitive to the economy. While it may be "going directly into the eye of a hurricane" to argue for funding civil legal services through state general funds in a time of state budget deficits, he said that "access to justice is one of the fundamental obligations we owe our citizenry."

"I have become convinced that the totality of what we are doing in New York and as far as I can see around the county is simply not enough," Lippman said. "It's simply not enough to rely on the wonderful good works of the bar and a patchwork of unreliable revenue streams that fluctuate up and down."

Attorneys should be provided as a matter of course in cases involving the "essentials of life," Lippman said, such as family court cases or domestic violence cases.

With Pennsylvania Chief Justice Ronald D. Castille looking on while Lippman gave his speech, Lippman said that Pennsylvania and New York are facing similar problems of reduced budgets for the state courts and reduced funding for civil legal aid.

New York's courts were cut $70 million above what Lippman said he had voluntered to cut, "the result being 430 layoffs of court personnel in the last two months. I know the situation here is equally difficult with Pennsylvania facing a $4 billion deficit."

Amaris Elliott-Engel is a reporter for The Legal. She can be contacted at 215-557-2354 or aelliott-engel@alm.com. Follow her on Twitter: @AmarisTLI.