Board Works Toward Improved Indigent Defense

    Dec. 7, 2006
    Times-Picayune
    Opinion, By Marta-Ann Schnabel

    Re: "The right questions on indigent defense," Other Opinions, Dec. 4.

    A number of independent national studies of the New Orleans criminal justice system prior to the storm declared it in need of serious reform.

    Since the storm, both the United States Department of Justice, through the Bureau of Justice Assistance, and the National Legal Aid and Defender Association, have issued reports recommending precisely the type of defender reforms that have been instituted by the volunteer board that runs that program.

    Those reports specifically state that indigent defenders should be assigned to clients, not court rooms. The reports also emphasize training for defenders so as to meet national standards in handling cases.

    The Orleans Public Defenders Board is comprised of a group of volunteer lawyers who were drafted by the state and local bar associations and asked to build an office from the ground up.

    They have devoted countless uncompensated hours to their task, using the recent recommendations as their road map, and recruiting some of the top names in the country to assist.

    The Louisiana State Bar Association and the Louisiana Bar Foundation have worked with the board to augment its resources so that the allocated budget could be used for other purposes.

    Perhaps not every decision made by the board has been perfect, but each has been made in good faith with the intent of building the best defender office possible.
    We all mourn the loss of what was familiar to us before Aug. 29, 2005. But we have also learned that most things will never be the same. And sometimes that is for the best.

    Marta-Ann Schnabel
    President
    Louisiana State Bar Association
    New Orleans



National Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers (NACDL)
1660 L St., NW, 12th Floor, Washington, DC 20036
(202) 872-8600 • Fax (202) 872-8690 • assist@nacdl.org