What Can President Obama's Administration Do?

Below is a link to an on-line petition asking President Obama's administration to ensure justice for all by supporting proper funding and support for state and local public defense. Specifically, the petition asks the administration to:

1. Support balance in the allocation of federal funds for state and local criminal justice systems through explicit language in statutes and regulations;

2. Identify indigent defense as a priority area for training and technical assistance;

3. Establish and fund a program of loan repayment assistance as required by section (c) of the John R. Justice Prosecutors and Defenders Incentive Act of 2008 to assist in the recruitment and retention of public defenders and prosecutors; and

4. Conduct a nationwide study to determine the extent to which people are convicted without access to counsel in misdemeanor and low-level felony cases.

I encourage you to leave comments and “take action” by using the forms supplied from the link embedded in the second to last sentence. If you want to create a more specific “ask,” in the form letter, please consider requesting that as lawmakers are set to restore Byrne-JAG funding within the economic stimulus package that they recognize the need for federal funding parity and push to include “public defense programs” within the statutory categories for which states are authorized to spend Byrne-JAG funds in 42 U.S.C. § 3751(a)(1). There is no bill pending at the present time, but it can’t hurt to soften the ground a bit for anticipated efforts in the near future.

http://criminaljustice.change.org/actions/view/justice_for_all_fairness_of_courts