National Symposium on Indigent Defense: Looking Back, Looking Forward 2010

The National Symposium on Indigent Defense: Looking Back, Looking Forward 2010 was held in Washington D.C. this past week and was attended by more than 600 public defenders, judges and elected officials, including Attorney General Eric Holder. The Symposium's goal is discuss ways to better defend those without the means to hire their own attorneys. San Francisco Public Defender Jeff Adachi gave a presentation on the crisis in indigent defense funding and discussed how his office has dealt with the increasing demand for legal services created by the economic recession. The San Francisco Public Defender's Office has faced cuts of nearly $1 million dollars which forced the office to refuse appointment of cases and led to outsourcing hundreds of cases to private attorneys due to lack of staffing. Adachi has been a vocal opponent of the budget cuts, saying that it costs the city much more to outsource cases than to have his office provide representation. Adachi’s prediction came true, with more than $3.2 million in private counsel costs being requested by the court to cover cases that the Public Defender could have handled with adequate staffing. As an interesting side-note, San Francisco Public Defender Jeff Adachi is a publicly elected official, one of the few publicly elected public defender's in the country.

Here is an excerpt from Attorney General Eric Holder's remarks given at the Symposium (full remarks here).

As we all know, public defender programs are too many times under-funded. Too often, defenders carry huge caseloads that make it difficult, if not impossible, for them to fulfill their legal and ethical responsibilities to their clients. Lawyers buried under these caseloads often can't interview their clients properly, file appropriate motions, conduct fact investigations, or spare the time needed to ask and apply for additional grant funding. And the problem is about more than just resources. In some parts of the country, the primary institutions for the delivery of defense to the poor – I'm talking about basic public defender systems – simply do not exist.

I continue to believe that if our fellow citizens knew about the extent of this problem, they would be as troubled as you and I. Public education about this issue is critical. For when equal justice is denied, we all lose.

As a prosecutor and former judge, I know that the fundamental integrity of our criminal justice system, and our faith in it, depends on effective representation on both sides. And I recognize that some may perceive the goals of those who represent our federal, state, and local governments and the goals of those who represent the accused as forever at odds. I reject that premise. Although they may stand on different sides of an argument, the prosecution and the defense can, and must, share the same objective: Not victory, but justice. Otherwise, we are left to wonder if justice is truly being done, and left to wonder if our faith in ourselves and in our systems is misplaced.

Attorney General Eric Holder Announces New Medical Marijuana Policy

In what is being recognized as a shift towards a more sensible U.S. drug policy, Attorney General Eric Holder announced a new policy for medical marijuana. Under the policy spelled out in a three-page legal memo, federal prosecutors are being told to prioritize their prosecutions to focus on issues including violent crime and large scale drug traffickers. The Attorney General stated:

It will not be a priority to use federal resources to prosecute patients with serious illnesses or their caregivers who are complying with state laws on medical marijuana, but we will not tolerate drug traffickers who hide behind claims of compliance with state law to mask activities that are clearly illegal.

"This is a major step forward," said Bruce Mirken, communications director for the Marijuana Policy Project. "This change in policy moves the federal government dramatically toward respecting scientific and practical reality."

AG Eric Holder's Remarks to ABA Conference

AG Eric Holder delivered a speech Monday at the ABA conference calling for us to be not just tough on crime but smart on crime. He called for an overhaul of federal sentencing. The highlights of the highlights (full speech here):

In doing so, we must move beyond the narrow parameters that have constrained our nation’s debate about criminal justice policy over the last several decades. There is no doubt that we must be "tough on crime." But we must also commit ourselves to being "smart on crime." And we must realize that these approaches complement, rather than contradict, each other. In the six months that I have served as Attorney General, I have worked to advance this fundamental truth: it is time to move past politics and ideology, and to move forward to a criminal justice system that is predicated on the fact that we need it to be fair and effective. In sum, we need to adopt what works.

Getting smart on crime requires talking openly about which policies have worked and which have not. And we have to do so without worrying about being labeled as too soft or too hard on crime. Getting smart on crime means moving beyond useless labels and catch-phrases, and instead relying on science and data to shape policy. And getting smart on crime means thinking about crime in context – not just reacting to the criminal act, but developing the government’s ability to enhance public safety before the crime is committed and after the former offender is returned to society.

and...

We will not focus exclusively on incarceration as the most effective means of protecting public safety. For although spending on prison construction continues to increase, public safety is not continuing to improve. Crime rates appear to have reached a plateau beyond which they no longer decline in response to increases in incarceration. Indeed, since 2003, spending on incarceration has continued to rise, but crime rates have flattened.

Handy Federal Contact List

Look no further than your local United States Attorney's Office to find listings for all Federal Agencies. Next time you need to contact ATF via internet, no problem.

Attorney General Eric Holder: Rethinking Federal Sentencing Policy

Today, Attorney General Holder spoke at the Charles Hamilton Houston Institute for Race and Justice and Congressional Black Caucus Symposium. His speech, “Rethinking Federal Sentencing Policy 25th Anniversary of the Sentencing Reform Act” talked of reform:

The current federal sentencing system continues to be a target for criticism from judges, academics, and attorneys across our nation. These criticisms range from concerns about mandatory minimums to the use of acquitted conduct in sentencing decisions. Accordingly, a thorough review of federal sentencing and corrections policies, with an eye toward possible reform, is welcome and necessary.

AG Holder also announced the Department of Justice is conducting an internal review:
At the same time, the Department of Justice has begun its own internal review of sentencing and corrections policy:

I have asked members of the DOJ community – both in Washington, DC and in the U.S. Attorneys Offices around the country – to participate in the Sentencing and Corrections Working Group which is chaired by the Deputy Attorney General. Our review will consider:
· the structure of federal sentencing, including the role of mandatory minimums;
· the Department’s own charging and sentencing policies;
· alternatives to incarceration and re-entry;
· eliminating the sentencing disparity between crack and powder cocaine; and
· an examination of other unwarranted disparities in federal sentencing.

Sounds like a step in the right direction.

Attorney General Eric Holder's Statement on Ali Al-Marri

"A short while ago, in an Illinois courtroom, Ali Saleh Kahlah Al-Marri pleaded guilty to conspiracy to provide material support to the al-Qaeda terrorist network. By entering into this agreement, al-Marri admitted that he worked for and provided material support to al-Qaeda with the intent to further its terrorism objectives and activities here in the United States.
"Without a doubt, this case is a grim reminder of the seriousness of the threat we, as a nation, still face. But it also reflects what we can achieve when we have faith in our criminal justice system and are unwavering in our commitment to the values upon which this nation was founded and the rule of law.
"Just days after taking the oath of office, President Obama directed me to lead an interagency review of the al-Marri case. At the time, al-Marri had been sitting in a naval brig in South Carolina for more than five years facing no charges.
"As a result of that review and an examination of the evidence gathered during the extensive investigation of al-Marri by the FBI and Justice Department prosecutors, we decided to charge al-Marri in federal court. In February, a federal grand jury in Illinois indicted al-Marri on two counts of providing and conspiring with others to provide material support to al-Qaeda.
"That led us to where we are today - the resolution of this case that will send al-Marri to prison for up to 15 years.
"There are many milestones we achieve today, not the least of which are –
--The conviction of an al-Qaeda sleeper agent captured in the United States;
-- The certainty that our criminal justice system can and will hold terrorists accountable for their actions, and;
-- The triumph of the exhaustive efforts of dedicated professionals at the Justice Department and many other agencies involved in this case.

Common Sense from US DOJ on Crack Sentencing

The United States Department of Justice announced today that it supports the elimination of the sentencing disparity between crack and powder cocaine. Testimony is expected to be given to Congress in the coming weeks. For full press release from Families Against Mandatory Minimums, click here.

WASHINGTON, D.C.: Families Against Mandatory Minimums (FAMM) hails today’s announcement by the U.S. Department of Justice that supports replacing the controversial 100:1 sentencing disparity between crack and powder cocaine with an even 1:1 ratio. DOJ’s announcement, included in testimony to be delivered on Capitol Hill by Assistant Attorney General Lanny Breuer, marks the first time the Justice Department has publicly endorsed equalization of the penalties between crack and powder cocaine. This signals a significant shift in DOJ policy, which has previously supported the sentencing disparity that has been in place for more than 20 years.

“DOJ’s support of equalization of crack and powder cocaine penalties means a new day has dawned for fair and proportionate sentencing laws, “ said Mary Price, FAMM Vice President and General Counsel. “Two decades ago, little was known about crack cocaine. Flawed assumptions about the drug drove Congress to adopt a particularly harsh sentencing structure for crack cocaine when it established new mandatory minimums for a host of drug offenses. Now, those perceptions have been repeatedly disproven and discredited.”

Prosecutorial Accountability: The Justice Project Releases New Report

The Justice Project just released a policy review exploring the systemic causes of prosecutorial misconduct by using recent research, studies, and commission reports on the issue. The report, Improving Prosecutorial Accountability: A Policy Review, details abuses and profiles cases of injustice as well as offers offers solutions to the systemic problems that lead to prosecutorial misconduct. The recommendations include increasing transparency and improving the accountability of prosecutors nationwide. A good summary with an email and further links is posted at Grits for Breakfast.

Breaking News...US Attorneys Job is to Do Justice

United States Attorney General Eric Holder (full article here):

"Your job as assistant US attorneys is not to convict people," Holder said. "Your job is not to win cases. Your job is to do justice. Your job is in every case, every decision that you make, to do the right thing. Anybody who asks you to do something other than that is to be ignored. Any policy that is at tension with that is to be questioned and brought to my attention. And I mean that."

A novel concept? Maybe the times are changing.

National Drug Report

This assessment, available from USDOJ and the National Drug Intelligence Center, provides a strategic overview and predictive outlook of drug trafficking and abuse trends within the United States. The assessment contains useful information including studies of prices, sizes of busts, availability, production and cultivation, transportation, distribution, and demand. Worth a browse if you work with drug cases.

United States Attorney's Manual

Whenever you find yourself dealing with the United States Attorney's Office, it is nice to see where they are coming from. Luckily, in our transparent government, we can get the manual. The United States Attorney Manual has also sorts of interesting information including policies on electronic surveillance, pleas, crimes by topic, and a host of other information. Click here for the Manuals.