UNLIKELY ALLIES A Newsletter for the Constitution Project s Clearinghouse of New Voices for Criminal Justice Reform June 22, 2010 Welcome to the second edition of Unlikely Allies, the Newsletter for the Constitution Project s Clearinghouse of New Voices for Criminal Justice Reform. Through this newsletter, we update you on the unlikely allies who are speaking out in favor of criminal justice reforms like the right to counsel, revisions to our criminal sentencing laws, and other issues. These unlikely allies include current and former prosecutors, judges, police officers and other law enforcement officials, legislators, victim advocates, conservatives, and Republicans not those traditionally considered the usual suspects in calling for reforming the current criminal justice system. Advocacy for criminal justice reform is particularly effective when these unlikely allies team up with other diverse individuals to promote unexpected ideas or alliances. This edition of the newsletter contains many examples of this from prosecutors and public defenders coming together to speak out about the indigent defense crisis, to the Heritage Foundation and National Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers teaming up to author a report about the importance of maintaining a criminal intent requirement in the federal law. In This Issue The Right to Counsel o Representatives Conyers (D MI) and Scott (D VA) Sponsor Constitutional Right to Counsel Summit Highlighting Diverse Viewpoints o Texas state Judge Charlie Baird and former federal district judge William S. Sessions Suggest Reforms to Proposed Houston Public Defender Office o Former Third Circuit Judge Timothy Lewis Honored for Leadership on Indigent Defense Reform Sentencing Reform o Former California Law Enforcement Officials Krinsky, Pierce & Woodford Call for End to Life Without Parole for Juvenile Offenders o Praise for Constitution Project s Bipartisan Work from United States Sentencing Commission o Heritage Foundation and NACDL Release Report Decrying Erosion of Intent Requirement in Federal Criminal Law Other Criminal Justice Issues o Diverse Voices Oppose Proposals to Change Miranda Requirements
THE RIGHT TO COUNSEL HOUSE JUDICIARY CHAIR JOHN CONYERS (D MI) AND CRIME SUBCOMMITTEE CHAIR BOBBY SCOTT (D VA) SPONSOR CONSTITUTIONAL RIGHT TO COUNSEL SUMMIT HIGHLIGHTING DIVERSE VIEWPOINTS On Tuesday, June 15, members of Congress, judges, prosecutors, scholars, public defenders, and other legal practitioners came together to discuss the impact the current public defense crisis is having on the efficient operation of states criminal justice systems. Panelists at the Summit represented all parts of the criminal justice system including prosecutors (John Chisholm, District Attorney, Milwaukee County, WI and Nancy Diehl, Former Prosecutor, Wayne County, MI); judges (Judge Carolyn Temin, Sr. Judge, Court of Common Pleas, 1st Judicial District of Pennsylvania and Judge Michael Wolff, Judge, Supreme Court of Missouri); and defense counsel (Carlos Martinez, Public Defender, Miami Dade County, FL). Laurence Tribe, recently appointed Senior Counsel for the DOJ s Access to Justice Initiative and former Professor at Harvard Law School, also participated. A summary and video of the event is available here. JUDGE CHARLIE BAIRD AND WILLIAM S. SESSIONS SUGGEST REFORMS TO PROPOSED HOUSTON PUBLIC DEFENDER OFFICE In an op ed published June 9, 2010 in the Houston Chronicle, Judge Charlie Baird (Judge, 299th District Court in Travis County, TX and former Judge, Texas Court of Criminal Appeals) and William Sessions (former Chief Judge, U.S. District Court for the Western District of Texas; Former Director of the FBI) called for Harris County (Houston) to establish a strong public defense system. The two proposed changes to an existing plan to establish a new public defender office in Harris County (Houston), so that the office would be able to provide more effective representation once it is established. JUDGE TIMOTHY LEWIS HONORED FOR LEADERSHIP ON INDIGENT DEFENSE REFORM The National Law Journal named Timothy Lewis, former federal prosecutor, federal trial and appellate judge and current partner at Schnader Harrison Segal & Lewis, as one of ten legal Champions as part of its third annual Legal Times awards. The article highlighting Judge Lewis s work praised him for his dedicated work as co chair of the Constitution Project s National Right to Counsel Committee, which last year release the Justice Denied, a report highlighting the crisis in indigent defense systems nationwide. SENTENCING REFORMS
FORMER CALIFORNIA LAW ENFORCEMENT OFFICIALS KRINSKY, PIERCE & WOODFORD CALL FOR END TO LIFE WITHOUT PAROLE FOR JUVENILE OFFENDERS Earlier this month, three influential former law enforcement officials authored a powerful op ed in the L.A. Times arguing that California should eliminate life without parole (LWOP) as a sentencing option for juvenile offenders. The authors included Miriam Aroni Krinsky, a former federal prosecutor for 15 years and a member of the Constitution Project s Sentencing Committee; Ernie Pierce, a former officer for almost 30 years with the San Diego Police Department; and Jeanne Woodford, the former warden of San Quentin State Prison and former director of the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation. The three cited the dramatic transformations among young people in [their] correctional facilities and in [their] neighborhoods that they witnessed during their time in law enforcement as evidence of the inappropriateness of LWOP for juveniles. PRAISE FOR CONSTITUTION PROJECT S BIPARTISAN WORK FROM UNITED STATES SENTENCING COMMISSION On May 27th, Thomas Hillier, the Federal Public Defender for the Western District of Washington and member of the Constitution Project's Sentencing Committee, testified before the United States Sentencing Commission at a hearing about mandatory minimum sentences in the federal system. During his testimony, Hillier described the work of the Constitution Project s Sentencing Committee, a diverse, bipartisan group that was able to arrive at a consensus about a number of substantive recommendations for changing the federal sentencing system. Jonathan Wroblewski, the Justice Department's ex officio member on the Commission, hailed the Sentencing Committee for its ability to forge substantive sentencing policy recommendations despite its bipartisan and diverse membership. Mr. Wroblewski said it was rare to find organizations able to build consensus on policy issues like sentencing. HERITAGE FOUNDATION AND NACDL RELEASE REPORT DECRYING EROSION OF INTENT REQUIREMENT IN FEDERAL CRIMINAL LAW Last month, two philosophically diverse organizations the Heritage Foundation, a conservative think tank, and the National Association of Criminal Defense Lawyer (NACDL), an organization that advocates for preserving due process rights of the accused teamed up to release a report about the eroding mens rea requirement in the federal criminal law. Their mutual concern is well articulated in the foreword of the report: In the absence of a clearly articulated nexus between a person s conduct and his mental culpability, criminal laws subject the innocent to unjust prosecution and punishment for honest mistakes or actions that they had no reason to know are illegal. More information and a link to the report are available here.
OTHER CRIMINAL JUSTICE ISSUES: ATTACKS ON MIRANDA Diverse Voices Push Back Against Proposals to Change Miranda Requirement During an appearance on NBC s Meet the Press last month in the wake of the attempted Times Square bombing, Attorney General Holder responded to calls in Congress, agreeing that interrogators need greater flexibility in notifying suspects of their Miranda rights. In response to these suggestions, diverse individuals have spoken out against any proposal that would weaken Miranda rights: o John Cloonan, former Special Agent in the New York Field Office of the Federal Bureau of Investigation from 1976 2002, commented about the arrest and interrogation of the attempted Times Square bombing suspect Faisal Shahzad, stating Reading Shahzad his Miranda rights in no way impeded the continuing investigation. o James Robinson, former Assistant Attorney General for the Criminal Division of the Department of Justice, also stated that, For members of Congress to criticize the arrest and subsequent 'mirandizing' of suspected bomber Faisal Shahzad, not only shows a glaring lack of understanding of the law, but also a lack of confidence in the law enforcement officials putting their lives on the line to keep our nation safe. o Judge H. Lee Sarokin, former federal judge, remarked: We cannot have two systems of justice depending on how strong the case is against the suspected terrorist the person probably guilty forfeiting constitutional rights and the person possibly innocent retaining them. o Bob Barr, former Republican Congressman and United States Attorney, wrote a column calling for what true constitutionalists remain in the Congress to speak up against encroachments upon Miranda rights. Cloonan and Barr are members of the Constitution Project s Liberty and Security Committee. GET INVOLVED WHAT IS THE CLEARINGHOUSE & HOW CAN YOU BE INVOLVED? The goal of the Clearinghouse is to promote the voices of those traditionally viewed as unlikely allies to criminal justice reform, e.g., judges, prosecutors, corrections officials, conservatives, etc., by matching them to criminal justice reform campaigns on the federal and state levels. Members of the Clearinghouse may be asked to sign an amicus brief or a letter to a legislature, author an op ed piece or letter to the editor, or provide legislative testimony about various criminal justice issues. As we hear of opportunities, we will contact you to see if you would like to participate. And we always welcome your suggestions as well. Please feel free to reach out to us: Mary Schmid, Senior Counsel: 202 580 6938, mschmid@constitutionproject.org.
WHO ELSE DO YOU KNOW WHO SHOULD BE INCLUDED IN THE CLEARINGHOUSE? If you have suggestions of unlikely allies the Constitution Project should contact former prosecutors with whom you used to work, former judges who sat with you on the bench, prison officials, state and federal legislators, conservatives, and others who would lend particular influence to efforts to reform the criminal justice system, please pass their names along to us. We re also always eager to identify other issues on which reform efforts are taking place, and to hear about news stories highlighting unique voices in the criminal justice reform debate, so please forward those along as you come across them. To unsubscribe from this newsletter, please reply to this email with the word unsubscribe.