Prosecutorial Discipline, Government Transparency & the 1st Amendment; Can Lawyers Crowdfund Legal Fees?

Stephen Gillers and Barbara S. Gillers give an update on Civil Rights Corps v. Pestana, pending in the Southern District of New York. The case (previously discussed in podcast #9) raises issues not only of the apparent lack of discipline for prosecutorial misconduct, but also government transparency and the First Amendment. Then they discuss when and how lawyers can post on crowdfunding sites to raise money for their client’s legal fees.

Stephen is the Elihu Root Professor of Law and Barbara is an Adjunct Professor of Law, both at New York University School of Law.

Listen on Apple Podcasts here, Google Podcasts here, Spotify here, or Stitcher here.

Reference List for Podcast #10: Prosecutorial Discipline, Government Transparency & the 1st Ammendment; Can Lawyers Crowdfund Legal Fees?

Civil Rights Core Complaint in Civil Rights Corps, et al. v. Pestana, et al., 21-CV-9128 (VM)

Section 90 of the New York Judiciary Law

City’s Letter on the First Amendment (on Pacer)

Letter of plaintiffs’ counsel in response (on Pacer)

Kamasinski v. Judicial Review Council, 44 F.3d 106 (2d Cir. 1994)

Landmark Communications, Inc. v. Virginia, 435 U.S. 829 (1978)

Stilp v. Contino, 613 F.3d 405 (3d Cir. 2010)

Cara Bayles, Web Donations Help Jan. 6 Suspects Tap Private Legal Muscle, Law 360, January 5, 2022

D.C. Bar Ethics Opinion 375 (November 2018) (on crowdfunding)

New York State Bar Ethics Opinion 816