The Bronx Defenders Explained

The Bronx Defenders
Founders:Robin Steinberg, David Feige, Daniel Arshack, and five other founders.
Type:Non-profit
Region:The Bronx
Services:Public defender
Languages:-->
Leader Title:Executive Director
Leader Name:Wesley Caines
Staff:250[1]
Staff Year:2016

The Bronx Defenders is a public defender office located in the South Bronx neighborhood of New York City. At the Bronx Defenders, criminal defense lawyers work together with civil lawyers, family defense lawyers, immigration lawyers, non-attorney advocates, social workers, and investigators to help their clients address the full range of legal and social issues that can result from criminal charges.[2]

History

Founded in 1997 by a team of eight advocates, including its former executive director Robin Steinberg, David Feige and criminal defense attorney Daniel Arshack, the Bronx Defenders is responsible for developing holistic defense, an interdisciplinary model of criminal defense lawyering.[3] The Bronx Defenders is also host to The Bronx Freedom Fund, the first charitable bail organization in New York State.

In late 2023, Justine Olderman stepped down from her position as Executive Director. She held the post for six years, and was the second ever in the position, being appointed by founder Robin Steinberg.[4] As of January 2024, Wesley Caines has stepped into the roll as an interim while the Board hires an outside firm to conduct a national search for a new Executive Director.

Contract

The Bronx Defenders are a contracted public defender for New York City, along with the Legal Aid Society, New York County Defender Services in Manhattan, Brooklyn Defender Services in Brooklyn, Queens Law Associates in Queens, and the Neighborhood Defender Service in northern Manhattan.[5] [6]

Recognition

In recent years, the Bronx Defenders has received national attention and praise for its work providing holistic defense to indigent residents of the Bronx, including the National Legal Aid & Defender Association’s Clara Shortridge Foltz Award.[7]

As of early 2016, the office had 250 employees working in it.

See also

External links

Notes and References

  1. Sonia Sotomayor Goes Back to the Bronx. February 8, 2016. The New Yorker. July 19, 2016.
  2. Robin Steinberg, "Heeding Gideon's Call in the Twenty-First Century: Holistic Defense and the New Public Defense Paradigm", 70 Washington & Lee Law Review 961-984 (2013).
  3. Winnie Hu, "In South Bronx, Legal Aid and Shoulders to Lean On", The New York Times, 27 February 2013.
  4. Web site: 2023-08-04 . Justine Olderman Stepping Down as Executive Director at The Bronx Defenders - The Bronx Defenders . 2024-01-22 . en-US.
  5. Book: Wright, Eisha N. . Report on the Fiscal 2016 Preliminary Budget: Courts and Legal Aid Society / Indigent Defense Services . 27 March 2015 . New York City Council Finance Division .
  6. Web site: 2024-03-15 . Common Injuries In Car Accidents And Their Legal Implications . 2024-04-11 . en-US.
  7. Web site: The Bronx Defenders Wins the National Legal Aid and Defender Association's 2013 Clara Shortridge Foltz Award . The Bronx Defenders. 7 October 2013 . en-US. 2019-05-09.

This article is licensed under the GNU Free Documentation License. It uses material from the Wikipedia article "The Bronx Defenders".

Except where otherwise indicated, Everything.Explained.Today is © Copyright 2009-2024, A B Cryer, All Rights Reserved. Cookie policy.