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Public Defender's Party Association Protected Activity by The U.S. Supreme Court has held that a public defender who is satisfactorily performing his job may not be terminated based upon political party affiliation. This action was brought by two assistant public defenders in Rockland County, New York who were issued termination …
Article • May 15, 2007
Supreme Court Strikes Down CSC Ban on Welfare Suits by The Court strikes down a statute forbidding Legal Services lawyers to challenge the constitutionality of welfare statutes, and in doing so characterizes litigation as speech and applies the usual First Amendment analysis to this content-based restriction. (Interestingly, the Court ignores …
Court Can Appoint Amicus in Pro Se Death Penalty Case by At 800: "A federal district court possesses the inherent authority to appoint an amicus curiae to assist the court in its proceedings." (Citations omitted) Here, the court appoints independent counsel for a capital defendant who represented himself and said …
Indigents Cannot be Denied Post-Conviction Transcripts or Appeals by The United States Supreme Court held that a state may not deny post-conviction appellate review to a prisoner, who could not afford the to acquire a transcript of the proceedings. Oddly, this case stems from the 1945 Indiana enactment of the …
Article • May 15, 2007
Filed under: Attorneys, Public Defenders
Public Defender not Actor Under Color of State Law for Withdrawing from Appeal by The U.S. Supreme Court held a public defender cannot be held liable under 42 U.S.C §1983 for moving to withdraw from a criminal defendant's appeal on the grounds the defendant's appeal and claims are frivolous. An …
Article • May 15, 2007
State Appointment and Compensation of Attorneys in Federal Action Upheld by The United States Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit held that legal counsel appointed in Illinois state court were legally appointed in state court and compensated by state court order in a federal civil rights action. Joan Schmude, …
Article • May 15, 2007 • from PLN May, 2007
Doing “Katrina Time” by Bob Williams Doing "Katrina Time" by Bob Williams Last month, PLN's cover story addressed the terrors and tribulations faced by prisoners when Hurricane Katrina devastated New Orleans on August 29, 2005 -- not just the horrors of the storm, but also the brutality and abuse inflicted …
Article • May 15, 2007
Attorneys Not Entitled To Meet With Cooperating Witnesses by The U.S. Seventh Circuit Court of Appeals held that a legal aid organization and its potential clients (witnesses who were cooperating with. police) had no right requiring the police to inform the client that an attorney representing them was at the …
Dismissal Of Prisoner's Damages Claim For Access To Courts Violations Reversed by The U.S. Seventh Circuit Court of Appeals held that fact issues precluded summary judgment of a Wisconsin prisoner's punitive damages claim against federal prison officials for denial of access to courts. Christian Sahagian, a Wisconsin state prisoner, was …
Article • May 15, 2007
NY Public Defenders' Pay Kept Low by Leonard Levenson and the other defendants in this case were New York criminal defense lawyers taking cases on appointment. 22 NYCRR § 722-b capped their fee at $800 for misdemeanors and $1,200 for felonies. But in extraordinary cases, trial courts could award more. …
9/11 Immigration Detainee Challenges Denial of Counsel, Religious Diet by The plaintiff was arrested on September 12, 2001, on the belief that he was connected with the 9/11 hijackers, and transferred to a federal prison, where he was subjected to a visual body cavity search viewed by multiple male and …
Reflections on Katrina’s First Year: The Story of Chaos and Continuing Abuse in One of America’s Worst Justice Systems by Bob Williams Reflections on Katrina's First Year: The Story of Chaos and Continuing Abuse in One of America's Worst Justice Systems by Bob Williams As America reflected on Hurricane Katrina's …
Article • January 15, 2007 • from PLN January, 2007
Settlement Revamps Grant County, Washington Indigent Defense System; County Agrees to $1.1 Million in Attorney Fees by Grant County, Washington entered into a sweeping settlement to resolve a class-action lawsuit alleging that its indigent defense system was constitutionally deficient. Prior to February 12, 2004, Grant County ?maintained a contract system …
CSC Pays Public Defender Social Worker $125,000 for Rape in Juvenile Facility by A former social worker with the Baltimore public defenders office in Maryland, who said she was raped by a 15-year-old boy she was a visiting at the Charles H. Hickley, Jr. School settled a civil lawsuit on …
Los Angeles County Pays Prisoner $42,500 for Legal Malpractice by Public Defender by by John E. Dannenberg The County of Los Angeles paid $42,500 to settle a legal malpractice claim brought by a prisoner who suffered state prison plus felony disenfranchisement upon an unlawful conviction. In October 1992, Jose Castro, …
U.S. Supreme Court: Michigan Appellate Attorneys Have by U.S. Supreme Court: Michigan Appellate Attorneys Have No Third Party Standing To Sue For Rights Of Future Unrepresented Prisoners by John E. Dannenberg The U.S. Supreme Court, sidestepping the important question of the constitutionality of a Michigan state law that prohibited appointment …
Mere Pendency of Proceedings Deprives Court of Jurisdiction in Jail Collect Call Case; Attorney Fee by Mere Pendency of Proceedings Deprives Court of Jurisdiction in Jail Collect Call Case; Attorney Fee Awarded Reversed, Injunction Upheld The Sixth Circuit Court of Appeals has reversed an award of attorney's fees, holding the …
Article • June 15, 2005 • from PLN June, 2005
Los Angeles County Pays $32,500 To Settle Public Defender's Legal Malpractice by by John E. Dannenberg On November 8, 2004, the Los Angeles County, California Claims Board granted authority of $32,500 to settle a claim by a prisoner for legal malpractice on the part of the Public Defender, wherein the …
Article • May 15, 2005 • from PLN May, 2005
Los Angeles County Pays $300,000 To Settle Public Defender's Legal Malpractice by by John E. Dannenberg On October 4, 2004, the Los Angeles County, California Claims Board granted authority of $300,000 to settle a claim by a prisoner for legal malpractice on the part of the Public Defender, wherein the …
Article • March 15, 2005 • from PLN March, 2005
Massachusetts Court Imposes Time Limits For Unrepresented Criminal Defendants by The Supreme Judicial Court of Massachusetts held that if an attorney is unavailable to represent an indigent criminal defendant, the defendant must be released within 7 days and the case against that defendant dismissed within 45 days. This consolidated case …
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