First Shot at Justice: The Power of Legal Representation at the First Appearance
Over six out of ten people in jail are awaiting trial, and nine out of ten are there because they have not posted bail. It is known that when people are held in jail pretrial, they are four times more likely to get a jail sentence and three times more likely to go to prison. Our courts are focused on case resolution, yet in order to have legitimate and fair resolutions, people charged with crimes, no matter the severity, must have counsel from the very beginning of the case. A study by the Baltimore City Lawyers at Bail Project showed that a person charged with a misdemeanor or non-violent crime who has access to counsel at the first appearance is two and a half times more likely to be released when than those without counsel.
Moderated by the Justice Programs Office at American University, this panel featured Brian MacKenzie, former judge for the 52nd District Court in Michigan; George Grasso, Supervising Judge of Bronx County Criminal Court; and Jo-Ann Wallace, President and CEO of National Legal Aid and Defender Association (NLADA). The session explored the importance of the right to counsel at the first appearance in reducing mass incarceration, its financial toll, and its collateral consequences on the accused. The panelists compared systems that provide legal representation at the first appearance to systems that do not, and highlighted research and data from the Alameda County Public Defender’s Office implementing early appointment of counsel through the Smart Defense program.
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