Narrative of Resolution:
title
Calling on the State of New York to fully fund 18B Assigned Counsel Statutory Pay Levels
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RESOLUTION INTRODUCED BY EXECUTIVE COMMITTEE CALLING ON THE STATE OF NEW YORK TO FULLY FUND COUNTY LAW 18B ASSIGNED COUNSEL STATUTORY PAY LEVELS
WHEREAS, the United States Constitution established, and the Supreme Court decision Gideon v. Wainwright clarified, that competent counsel is to be given to all accused of a crime, regardless of their ability to pay; and
WHEREAS, New York State took legislative action to establish a criminal indigent defense legal system that passed the responsibility of providing these criminal defense services, and many of the costs associated with them, to counties and local property taxpayers; and
WHEREAS, in 2007, the New York State Civil Liberties Union sued the State of New York in Hurrell-Harring v. State of New York, which showed indigent criminal defense services were underfunded by the State and failed to meet constitutionally required standards; and
WHEREAS, prior to Hurrell-Harring, the 57 New York counties spent $164 million annually on public defense while the State provided the 57 counties with only $39 million in indigent defense support; and
WHEREAS, the New York State Legislature recognized that the State needs to provide additional funding and, in 2017, passed historic legislation allocating $250 million per year, when fully implemented, of state funding to directly improve indigent defense services; and
WHEREAS, while counties are still funding the same amount, the State's 2017 funding increase has made New York State a leader in indigent defense services; and
WHEREAS, due to different county demographics and needs, counties have flexi...
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