New York City Bar Association - 44th Street Blog | News from the New York City Bar Association

Study by Swedish and NYC Bar Associations Raises Concerns on Press Freedom in Montenegro

Posted on Tuesday, May 14, 2013 - 11:25am by Administrator

A report on a February research visit to Montenegro by a four-member team from the Swedish and New York City Bar Associations has found that while the laws governing the press are generally satisfactory, “the relationships between the independent press and the government and between the independent press and pro-government press are permeated by polarization and antagonism.”

In addition, the report found, “The government continues to influence the marketplace for news through its ownership of a daily paper and its placement of a high volume of advertising in favored media. Certain incidents of violence against journalists have not been adequately investigated, and the number of libel suits remains a concern. In addition, independent observers repeatedly noted that the lack of clear ethical standards or a generally accepted self-regulatory body undermines the quality of journalism in Montenegro.”

The objective of the research was to assess the extent to which Montenegro’s legislation and enforcement comply with international and regional standards on freedom of the press, in particular in view of Montenegro’s pending application for accession to the European Union. The report, titled “Independent Legal Mission to Study Press Freedom in Montenegro,” was based on interviews and meetings with publishers, journalists, government officials, lawyers, and representatives of the international community and civil society. The research team was comprised of David Cook and David McCraw from the New York City Bar Association and Christian Ahlund and Lars Viklund from the Swedish Bar.

As detailed in the report, the assessment led to these conclusions and recommendations:

I. A lack of transparency has undermined trust and created an environment that makes it difficult for a free press to function.

1. Greater transparency is needed as to how acts of violence against journalists and other media representatives are being investigated and prosecuted.

2. Greater transparency is needed concerning the operation of the court system in its handling of libel cases.

3. Greater transparency is needed into government financial support of Pobjeda [the government-owned newspaper].

II. Libel litigation remains a concern, and close public monitoring of the court system is needed to ensure that European Court of Human Rights decisions are implemented to discourage frivolous and politically-motivated lawsuits and to identify areas where further law reform is needed.

III. While a voice in support of the dominant political party is an important element in the marketplace of ideas, government financing of a newspaper (whether directly or through inordinate amounts of advertising) creates conditions for the abuse of power and the further entrenchment of the government.

IV. The failure of the news industry to create a true self-regulatory body underscores the need for both an accepted code of ethics and independent private-sector monitoring institutions to promote ethics, address citizen complaints, and use the power of publicity to spotlight ethical misconduct and elevate standards.

The study was sponsored by the City Bar’s Cyrus R. Vance Center for International Justice and Committee on Communications and Media Law, in conjunction with the Swedish Bar Association.

The report can be read here: http://bit.ly/ZVwide

Posted in New York City Bar Association | Tagged Christian Ahlund, Committee on Communications and Media Law, Cyrus R. Vance Center for International Justice, David Cook, David McCraw, Lars Viklund, Media Development Investment Fund, Montenegro, New York City Bar Association, Pobjeda, press freedom, Swedish Bar Association | Leave a comment

Barbara Berger Opotowsky – by Carey R. Dunne

Posted on Monday, May 13, 2013 - 10:08am by Administrator

“The Association is an extraordinarily complicated institution. Even a two-year term does not enable presidents to master its intricacies,” Michael Cooper said recently. Mike was president of the New York City Bar Association from 1998 to 2000, and I had reached out to him and some other former City Bar presidents for their thoughts on our outgoing Executive Director, Barbara Berger Opotowsky. As someone who we all agree has “mastered the intricacies” in her fifteen years here, Barbara belongs to everyone who has worked with her, or more aptly, we belong to her.

“Barbara has been the soul of this great Association for the past fifteen years,” said Barry Kamins, who was City Bar president from 2006 to 2008. “As the City Bar’s true guardian, she has led with charm, poise and a staggering amount of energy.”

Indeed. Think of the changes that have taken place in society and the legal profession between 1997, when Barbara began her tenure, and today, and the skill set required to keep an organization founded in 1870 relevant and true to its mission.

“Barbara took great care to ensure that the City Bar remained committed to commenting on the critical legal problems of the day and taking steps to effect needed changes in the profession and the judiciary,” said Michael Cardozo, President from 1996 to 1998, referring to one of the City Bar’s core public functions. On issue after issue, Barbara’s leadership has enabled the City Bar to keep its voice in the public dialogue, as after 9/11 when we spoke out on civil liberties, and over the years on issues like government ethics reform and international human rights, and recently in the movement toward marriage equality.

Perhaps Barbara’s greatest legacy will be in the fruitful interplay between the City Bar’s policy work and the practice of lawyers on the ground. It’s easier to call on the legal profession to commit to doing more pro bono work when you’re walking the walk by providing twenty million dollars worth of pro bono legal services annually, as the City Bar Justice Center does with the help of its volunteer partners. Under Barbara’s watch, the Justice Center was “rebranded,” its staff more than doubled and its funding increased six-fold. Anyone can speak out on issues related to 9/11, or call for Temporary Protected Status for Haitians following the earthquake in Haiti, or advocate for immigration reform. But there is more moral force behind the calls, and a more receptive audience, when you’ve mobilized over 3,000 lawyers to provide legal services to the victims within days of the 9/11 attacks, and run clinics for New York’s Haitian residents and for immigrant kids seeking a path to citizenship. These kinds of efforts are what keep the City Bar vital, responsive and of the moment, and Barbara’s fingerprints are all over them.

As one of the founders of the Cyrus R. Vance Center for International Justice, Barbara has been key in transporting the best ideas of the City Bar and the best practices of the Justice Center—including the very concept of pro bono legal services—around the globe. Closer to home, Barbara’s strong commitment to increasing diversity in the legal profession has been manifest in the Statement of Diversity Principles signed by over 120 law firms and corporations, our annual benchmarking surveys, the creation of a Diversity Champion Award, and in the rapidly growing student pipeline programs she has nurtured. And she deserves an enormous amount of credit for navigating the Association through the Great Recession and the sea change going on in the legal profession. Under Barbara’s leadership, services to our members—including in career development and networking programs, along with our Small Law Firm Center—have expanded greatly.

“And during all of this she kept her extraordinary sense of humor,” said Michael Cardozo, while Michael Cooper talked about Barbara’s “infectious joy with which she has gone about her work.” If you’ve met Barbara, even briefly, you know exactly what they’re talking about.

“Astonishing.” That’s one of Barbara’s favorite words. She uses it as praise, as in “amazing” or “wonderful.” Barbara Berger Opotowsky is astonishing. As Barry Kamins said, “Presidents come and go, but there is only one Barbara.”

Carey R. Dunne is President of the New York City Bar Association.

Posted in New York City Bar Association | Tagged Barbara Berger Opotowsky, Barry Kamins, Carey R. Dunne, Michael Cardozo, Michael Cooper, New York City Bar Association | Leave a comment

City Bar Urges President Obama to Take Executive Action to Close Guantanamo

Posted on Monday, May 6, 2013 - 12:26pm by Administrator

Calling Guantanamo a “stain on our nation’s reputation” and “a serious threat to our national security,” the New York City Bar Association has written to President Barack Obama urging him to take Executive action to release or transfer the prison’s 86 detainees previously cleared for release and “to take concrete steps to restart the process toward closure of the Guantanamo Bay facility, including the eventual prosecution, transfer or release of the remaining individuals currently held there.”

“We recognize that Congress has put significant obstacles in your path, designed to frustrate the fulfillment of your promise to close Guantanamo, but Section 1028 of the National Defense Authorization Act of 2013 provides a path, albeit arduous, for release or transfer of detainees through Executive action that culminates in a national security waiver by the Secretary of Defense,” the letter states. “We urge the Administration to direct the Secretary of Defense to take actions to satisfy the requirements, wherever possible, for issuing waivers as specified in Section 1028.”

The letter, dated May 3rd and signed by City Bar President Carey R. Dunne, with copies to Secretary of Defense Chuck Hagel, Secretary of State John Kerry and Assistant to the President for National Security Affairs Thomas Donilon, references the ongoing hunger strike at Guantanamo as reflecting “suffering and hopelessness inflicted by a policy of unjustified detention that undermines the rule of law.” The letter “wholeheartedly” joins Senator Dianne Feinstein’s call to reexamine the halt of transfers to Yemen that reportedly affects 56 of the 86 cleared detainees in light of the election of a new President in Yemen, and to fill the vacancy of the Office of Special Envoy for the Closure of Guantanamo.

The letter concludes, “We submit that the steps urged here are necessary not only to cleanse the stain on our nation’s reputation as a staunch defender of the rule of law and international human rights but also to remove what has become a serious threat to our national security.”

The report can be read here: http://bit.ly/10C2gKt

Posted in New York City Bar Association | Tagged Assistant to the President for National Security Affairs Thomas Donilon, Carey R. Dunne, Guantanamo, international human rights, National Defense Authorization Act, National Security, New York City Bar Association, Office of Special Envoy for the Closure of Guantanamo, President Barack Obama, Rule of Law, Secretary of Defense Chuck Hagel, Secretary of State John Kerry, Section 1028, Senator Dianne Feinstein | Leave a comment

City Bar Praises Senate Immigration Reform Bill for Right to Counsel, Due Process and Detention Advances and Urges Further Steps

Posted on Friday, May 3, 2013 - 3:56pm by Administrator

In two letters to the U.S. Senate Judiciary Committee, dated April 24th, the New York City Bar Association, through its Committee on Immigration and Nationality Law, applauds the April 16 introduction of the immigration reform bill, the “Border Security, Economic Opportunity, and Immigration Modernization Act” (S.744). The City Bar also urges the Senate to take further steps to provide the right to counsel to all indigents in removal proceedings and reduce over-detention of immigrants.

In one letter, the City Bar applauds S.744 as a “strong and serious step forward” in providing, for the first time, appointed counsel in immigration proceedings—to children, the mentally ill, and the “particularly vulnerable.” The letter urges the Senate to go further and provide counsel to any indigent non-citizen facing deportation, especially those jailed in detention during proceedings. A recent poll shows that 76 percent of Americans, including 87 percent of Democrats and 67 percent of Republicans, support the provision of legal counsel in deportation proceedings. “Without a lawyer, individuals (who also face language and cultural barriers) are unlikely to even know what facts will help them make their case, let alone argue it,” the letter states. Moreover, the letter states that appointing counsel reflects American values of fairness and due process when high stakes or jail are on the line, regardless of the defendant’s identity: “[T]here is no citizenship test for counsel in America.”

Additionally, appointed counsel would save—not cost—taxpayer dollars. The letter cites a study, co-authored by Immigration and Nationality Law Committee Chair Lenni Benson, supporting that counsel would prevent unnecessary court proceedings, reduce the time non-citizens spend in detention, and reduce the need for government support to disrupted families.

In the other letter, the City Bar also applauds the steps S. 744 takes to reduce costly, cruel, and unnecessary over-detention of non-citizens. In 2011, a record 429,247 individuals were detained—more than in any federal or state prison system—at a cost to taxpayers of $2 billion. The bill revises mandatory detention into mandatory “custody,” encourages alternatives such as tracking bracelets and community-based supervision, provides important due process protections such as timely bond hearings, and requires more oversight and transparency for detention facilities.

The City Bar urges the Senate to take further steps to reduce over-detention. Specifically, the letter calls for Congress to repeal entirely mandatory detention and custody, and provide “individualized judge review of each custody decision, with specific, transparent criteria and no artificial minimum bond amount….There is no reason why immigration judges cannot determine flight or public safety risk as judges do every day in criminal courts.” The letter also urges Congress to repeal the “bed quota,” requiring detention of 34,000 at any one time regardless of risk, to require lawyer review of complex DHS detention decisions, and to give American Bar Association model Civil Immigration Detention Standards the full force of law.

The letters can be read at the following links: http://bit.ly/105sqW0 http://bit.ly/101jk1Y

Posted in New York City Bar Association | Tagged Border Security Economic Opportunity and Immigration Modernization Act, deportation, immigration, Immigration and Nationality Law Committee, Lenni Benson, New York City Bar Association, right to counsel, S.744 | Leave a comment

City Bar Releases Policy Recommendations for New York City’s Next Mayor – Candidates’ Forum Set for June 6th

Posted on Wednesday, May 1, 2013 - 10:09am by Administrator

The New York City Bar Association today released a report containing a wide range of policy recommendations for New York City’s next Mayor. The report comes one month before the City Bar will host a public forum, on June 6th, to which the Mayoral candidates have been invited.

“We have sent our report to the candidates to focus them on some of the most important legal policy issues facing New York City today, from the perspectives of lawyers who work daily on issues vital to the City’s welfare,” said City Bar President Carey R. Dunne. “With the report’s public distribution, the candidates should expect that voters will want to know their positions on these important issues.”

A collaborative effort of two dozen City Bar Committees, the report is being released on Law Day to underscore the relevance and scope of the law-related issues affecting New Yorkers, which include: Education, including Mayoral control of schools and the teacher disciplinary hearing process; Infrastructure, the Environment and Emergency Preparedness, including climate change, renewable energy, post-Sandy recommendations and transportation; Public Safety and Civil Liberties, including gun control, the reforming of Stop and Frisk, and human trafficking; Access to Justice, including initiatives to reduce the number of unrepresented litigants in civil cases and maintain the independence of judicial appointments; Consumer Protection, including the promotion of fair debt collection practices; Election Law, including the establishment of in-person early voting and no-excuse absentee ballot applications; Social Welfare and Equal Participation, including access to subsistence benefits and tools to promote greater child wellness; Animal Law, including the phasing out of horse-drawn carriages; New York as an International City, including the UN development plan; and Property Tax.

“In this age of snap judgments, sound bites and lightning quick communication, we tried to hold true to the City Bar’s time-honored process of asking groups of people to deliberate and reach a consensus viewpoint on something that collectively is important to them, and then convey that viewpoint in a way that not only advocates for change, but also invites others to think about and participate in the political process whether or not they agree with us,” said Dunne.

The report emphasizes the vast powers and responsibilities of the “Chief Executive Officer of the City,” stating, “Among other things, the Mayor appoints and can remove the commissioners of more than 40 City agencies; is responsible for preparing and administering the City’s annual Expense and Capital Budgets and financial plan; manages the City’s relations with federal, state and local governing entities; has the power to veto local laws enacted by the City Council; appoints Criminal Court Judges, Family Court Judges and Interim Civil Court Judges; and has powers and responsibilities relating to land use and City contracts and collaborates with city, state and federal agencies responsible for the City’s economic development and infrastructure. In addition to these official duties, the Mayor has unofficial powers. He or she can use the Mayor’s bully pulpit to weigh in on an astonishing array of issues, from the environment to gun control to immigration; can act as unofficial arbiter when diverse and competing interests collide; and can set broad new policy goals in conjunction with other levels of government.”

Collaborating on the report were the City Bar Committees on: Animal Law; Children and the Law; Council on Children; Civil Court; Civil Rights; Consumer Affairs; Corrections and Community Reentry; Criminal Advocacy; Criminal Courts; Criminal Justice Operations; Criminal Law; Drugs and the Law; Legal Issues Pertaining to People with Disabilities;
Domestic Violence; Education Law; Environmental Law; Legal Services for Persons of Moderate Means; Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender Rights; Matrimonial Law; New York City Affairs; Sex and Law; Social Welfare; Transportation Law; and the United Nations.

The report can be read here: http://bit.ly/10qmabf

Posted in New York City Bar Association | Tagged Candidates forum, Carey R. Dunne, June 6th mayoral forum, New York City Bar Association, New York City Mayor, New York City mayoral candidates, policy recommendations | Leave a comment

The Norman Redlich Capital Defense Distinguished Service and Pro Bono Awards

Posted on Friday, Apr 26, 2013 - 6:03pm by Administrator

The New York City Bar Association’s Capital Punishment Committee will present the Norman Redlich Capital Defense Distinguished Service and Pro Bono Awards at its annual habeas corpus training program to those who have shown excellence in the representation of death-row inmates or in advocating for the abolition of the death penalty.

The Capital Defense Distinguished Service Award will be given to a practitioner in New York who has demonstrated outstanding lifetime commitment to capital defense work, whether as counsel for a capital defendant or as an advocate for reform. The Pro Bono Award will be given to a practitioner, team of practitioners, or law firm in New York that has made a substantial contribution to representing one or more death-row inmates or to the abolition of the death penalty within our criminal justice system on a pro bono basis.

These awards seek to honor Dean Redlich’s legacy by recognizing those members of the New York bar who emulate his life-long dedication to challenging the death penalty. Previous recipients of the awards include Kevin Doyle (Distinguished Service) and David Herrington (Pro Bono).

Letters of nomination for these awards should be submitted to John Howley (jhowley[at]johnhowleyesq.com) on or before May 17, 2013. The letter should include the name, address, phone number, and e-mail address of the nominee and nominator. It should also state whether the nominee is being proposed for the Capital Defense Distinguished Service Award or Pro Bono Award and should provide a detailed description of the basis for the nomination.

Applications will be reviewed by a three-member panel of the Capital Punishment Committee, consisting of John Howley, Elizabeth Kostrzewa, and Kate McMahon. The panel will make recommendations for the awards to the full Capital Punishment Committee, which will vote for the award winners.

Recipients of the award will be announced at the annual habeas corpus training program hosted by the New York City Bar Association on Monday, July 15, 2013. Recipients and their nominators will be contacted on or before June 14, 2013.

Posted in New York City Bar Association | Tagged annual habeas corpus training program, capital punishment, Capital Punishment Committee, death row, New York City Bar Association, Norman Redlich Capital Defense Distinguished Service and Pro Bono Awards | Leave a comment

City Bar Announces Winners of 24th Annual Legal Services Awards

Posted on Friday, Apr 26, 2013 - 10:43am by Administrator

The New York City Bar Association has named five legal services attorneys and one non-attorney as recipients of the twenty-fourth Annual Legal Services Awards, which give recognition to attorneys and non-attorneys who provide outstanding civil legal assistance to New York’s poor. The Awards will be presented at a reception on Tuesday, May 7th at 4 PM at the Association, at 42 W. 44th St., to which the legal services community is invited.

This year’s recipients are:

Julie Brandfield, LegalHealth, New York Legal Assistance Group
Elise Brown, MFY Legal Services, Inc.
Robert Gruenwald, Legal Services NYC – Bronx
Michelle Kraus, New York Lawyers for the Public Interest
Dori Lewis, Prisoners’ Rights Project, The Legal Aid Society
Nicole Salk, South Brooklyn Legal Services

This year’s Awards will be presented by Hon. George B. Daniels, U.S. District Court Judge for the Southern District of New York.

The awards, which are sponsored by the City Bar’s Pro Bono and Legal Services Committee and administered by its Legal Services Awards Committee, are endowed by a generous contribution from the Horace W. Goldsmith Foundation.

Posted in New York City Bar Association | Tagged Dori Lewis, Elise Brown, Hon. George B. Daniels, Horace W. Goldsmith Foundation, Julie Brandfield, Legal Services Awards, Michelle Kraus, New York City Bar Association, Nicole Salk, Robert Gruenwald | Leave a comment

City Bar Continues to Urge UN Human Rights Monitoring and Reporting in Western Sahara

Posted on Wednesday, Apr 24, 2013 - 5:28pm by Administrator

The New York City Bar Association has written to United Nations Secretary General Ban Ki-Moon in support of the expansion of the United Nations Mission for the Referendum in Western Sahara (MINURSO)’s mandate to monitor and report on human rights violations in the territory of Western Sahara occupied by Morocco and the Tindouf refugee camps governed by the Polisario, a position the Association has held for several years.

This letter reiterates the position taken by the Association on the occasion of the renewal of the mandate of MINURSO in 2010. We took that position “because of the reports of human rights abuses cited by reputable sources such as Human Rights Watch, Amnesty International, the RFK Center for Human Rights, and the High Commissioner for Human Rights, and because we believed that only the reporting of a reputable neutral party with a daily presence in these locations would be able to provide the United Nations and the international community information that was complete and credible,” states the letter, signed by City Bar President Carey R. Dunne. “We also noted that reporting on such issues is standard practice in United Nations peacekeeping missions and that there is no justification for eliminating this function from MINURSO’s mandate.”

As noted in the 2010 letter, since the since the establishment of MINURSO in 1991 there have been consistent reports of human rights violations in the territory controlled by Morocco, including the arrest, torture, and detention of Sahrawis for peacefully advocating self-determination, as well as allegations of abuses in the refugee camps controlled by the Polisario in Tindouf, including restraints on travel and free speech.

The Association continues to urge that the United Nations Secretary-General and members of the United Nations Security Council expand MINURSO’s mandate to include monitoring and reporting of human rights violations.

Both the 2010 and 2013 letters may be read here: http://bit.ly/ZMOGEG.

Posted in New York City Bar Association | Tagged Ban Ki-Moon, Carey R. Dunne, Human Rights, MINURSO, Morocco, New York City Bar Association, Tindouf, United Nations, United Nations Mission for the Referendum in Western Sahara, Western Sahara | Leave a comment