HOW EVIL ARE VIOLATION PLEAS?

Here's an event being promoted by  New York County Lawyers' Association :

You are invited to a free public forum "Are Violation Pleas A Necessary Evil?" on Thursday, January 29 at 6:00 PM at the NYCLA Home of Law, 14 Vesey Street (between Broadway and Church Street).

In 2007, there were more than 86,938 violation pleas at arraignments in the New York City Criminal Court (and over 145,000 throughout the State) on charges ranging from disorderly conduct to harassment, trespass and marijuana possession. Although such pleas have been regarded as classic quid pro quos, veterans of the criminal justice system are concerned about such issues as: 86 percent of those stopped and searched were black or Latino, the ever-growing collateral consequences attendant to arrest and/or conviction, and the fact that the ABA Standards on Criminal Justice condemn violation pleas in an arraignment part.

Supporters of taking violation pleas in arraignments argue that such guilty pleas benefit the accused by insulating them from a potentially greater sentence and harsher collateral consequences, that a substantial number of the defendants have been arrested before and are familiar with the analysis involved, and that generally the accused want or insist upon such a plea to avoid returning to court in the future.

Join us for a panel discussion as we analyze the call for a moratorium on all violation pleas in the New York City Criminal Court arraignment parts.

Panelists
HON. JUANITA BING NEWTON, Deputy Chief Administrative Judge for Justice Initiatives & Administrative Judge of the New York City Criminal Court
GARY J. GALPERIN, Deputy Chief of the Trial Division in Charge of Criminal Court, District Attorney's Office - New York County, and Adjunct Professor of Law, Benjamin N. Cardozo School of Law
IRWIN SHAW, Attorney in Charge, The Legal Aid Society's Criminal Defense Practice - New York County
STEVEN ZEIDMAN, Professor, CUNY School of Law and Director, CUNY School of Law's Criminal Defense Clinic

Moderator
MICHAEL J. YAVINSKY, Chief Court Attorney, New York City Criminal Court, Chair, NYCLA Criminal Justice Section

 

RSVP: dlamb@nycla.org