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No
project of this magnitude should proceed without acknowledgment of the
other programs which were a source of inspiration. These pioneering
agencies are proof that vision and determination can help break the
mold.
Neighborhood
Defender Service of Harlem
"The
Neighborhood Defender Service of Harlem is a non-profit model public
law office whose dedicated staff are committed to providing the highest
quality legal representation to inner city residents in Upper
Manhattan. We are known internationally as the lead innovator in public
defense practice. We are committed to eliminating crime in our
community by addressing the problems that bring our clients into court
in the first place. This is made possible by an innovation created by
NDS -- holistic team defense. We involve civil and criminal attorneys,
social workers, investigators, paralegals, and college and law school
interns in the aggressive defense of our clients. We are dedicated to
our mission -- to make our constitutional promise of justice a reality
for those farthest from its reach."
(Excerpted from www.ndsny.org)
Neighborhood
Defender Service of Harlem
2031
Fifth Avenue 2nd Floor
New York, New York 10035
Phone: (212) 876-5500
bpaxton@ndsny.org
Bronx
Defenders
"Working with
social workers, drug treatment programs and community groups, the Bronx
Defenders is the most extreme example of a handful of groups across the
country that have decided to increase their mandate to the "whole
client," a practice that has garnered the New Age moniker "holistic
advocacy." In addition to counseling clients and their family members,
lawyers and social workers help clients to get jobs, find places to
live and sometimes even to get financial aid and go to college."
David Rovella, National Law Journal
Bronx Defenders
Robin G. Steinberg, Executive Director
890 Grant Avenue
Bronx, NY 10451
Telephone: (718) 838-7878
Fax: (718) 537-4455
robins@bronxdefenders.org
Georgia
Justice Project
"Every
year thousands of our poorest citizens, including homeless men and
women, appear in court to answer criminal charges. All too often, after
only minimal legal representation, they are found guilty. They either
receive probationary sentences and return to the same way of life that
brought them to the attention of the authorities, or they enter a
crowded prison system from which they are eventually paroled to return
to a life that offers little hope of change. Georgia Justice Project
has found a way to break this destructive cycle."
(Excerpted from www.gjp.org)
Georgia
Justice Project
The
Public Defender Anti-Violence Initiative of the Eleventh Judicial
Circuit in Dade County, Florida
"The
Anti-violence Initiative created by the Miami-Dade County, Florida
Public Defender's Office consists of defender-community collaborations
designed to help clients lead law-abiding lives by developing more
constructive diversion and sentencing options and expanding their
access to effective treatment."
Public Defender Bennett H. Brummer.
Attorney
General Janet Reno took time to single out the Miami-Dade County
Anti-Violence Initiative in an April 8,2000 speech at the National
Partnership Meeting of the Bureau of Justice Assistance:
"But
I have a challenge to defense lawyers. Most of them think that their
job is to get the person off, get the motion to dismiss granted, and
they think they've won the case. But too often their client walks out,
back into violence, back into drug use, and I think it is time to
rethink the traditional role of the public defender. I just received
from my old public defender at home, an adversary who I said I got more
provoked at than probably anybody in the criminal justice system, a
remarkable statement. It's the Public Defender Anti-Violence Initiative
of the Eleventh Judicial Circuit in Dade County, Florida: It
is the primary goal of the Anti-Violence Initiative to reduce the
likelihood of our clients engaging in future criminal conduct."
Law
Offices of the Public Defender for the Eleventh Judicial Circuit of
Florida
1320 NW 14th St.
Miami, FL 33125
For more information on the Anti-Violence Initiative, go to www.pdmiami.com/anti-vio.htm
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