Attorney General Holder Urges Increases In Funding For Legal Services For The Poor
In a powerful speech, Attorney General Eric Holder urged increases in funding for legal services for the poor.
"If more Americans knew how some of their fellow citizens experience the criminal justice system, they would be shocked and angered," the Attorney General said at the Brennan Legacy Awards dinner last evening.
The Attorney General told guests at the Brennan Center dinner that indigent defense "is an issue of personal importance and national conscience." The Attorney General related that as a judge, he'd seen firsthand "how ill-equipped and unprepared defense counsel distort the entire system."
Spelling out specific remedies, the Attorney General called for full engagement of partners at the federal, state and local levels. "As great as our criminal justice system is," he said, "it is imperative that we significantly improve the quality of representation provided to the poor and powerless."
Brennan Center for Justice at NYU School of Law | 161 Avenue of the Americas, 12th Floor | New York, NY 10013 | 212.998.6730 phone | 212.995.4550 fax | brennancenter@nyu.edu
