Back to RJ Archive

The Lessons of Neighborhood-Focused Public Defense

Stone, Christopher
June 4, 2015

Source: (1998) In Crime and Place: Plenary Papers of the 1997 Conference on Criminal Justice Research and Evaluation. National Institute of Justice, Office of Justice Programs, U.S. Department of Justice. Pp. 93-100. Downloaded 25 August 2004.

Christopher Stone works for the Vera Institute of Justice. In 1900 the Vera Institute of Justice, with funding from New York City and the state of New York, developed the Neighborhood Defender Service to provide high-quality, cost-effective legal defense services to defendants who live in Harlem and who cannot afford to hire private counsel. Stone first describes the genesis and rationale for Neighborhood Defender Service. Then, based on the experiences of six years of operation of the service, he discusses strengths and weaknesses of neighborhood defense and implications of neighborhood defense for the criminal justice system as a whole.

Tags:

Abstract
Support the cause

We've Been Restoring Justice for More Than 40 Years

Your donation helps Prison Fellowship International repair the harm caused by crime by emphasizing accountability, forgiveness, and making amends for prisoners and those affected by their actions. When victims, offenders, and community members meet to decide how to do that, the results are transformational.

Donate Now