Except for the least pessimistic among us, there is hope that 2022 will mark a return to most of what was missed for the last two years. It is a time to look forward, to put behind us a horribly difficult period. But it is unwise to plan for the future without looking back at … Continued

I write this column knowing that it will be approximately 60 days until it is delivered to our Section membership. That is the reality of our publication schedule, which involves dedicated work by NYSBA and our contributors. When I wrote the first version of this Message, the war in Ukraine was not yet real, we … Continued

In spite of the pandemic and the limited in-person functioning of the Criminal Justice Section, since my last report to you the Section has been most active and productive. The unique composition of our Section membership, consisting of prosecutors, defense counsel and judges, enables us to view issues facing the criminal justice system with an … Continued

The Unwarranted Criticism of Criminal Justice Reform What you are about to read are solely my opinions and not those of the Criminal Justice Section or the New York State Bar Association. I realize that there are those with differing opinions and I urge any member of the Section to set forth their views in … Continued

Throughout U.S. history, the right of the public’s access to courts has been intensely debated and interpreted through the fundamental guarantees in the First Amendment. From the landmark Supreme Court case Richmond Newspapers v. Virginia1 in 1980 to the recent case United States v. Tsarnaev2 in 2021, the Supreme Court has continued to grapple with the intricate topic of … Continued

In his book Policing the Big Apple (Reakton Books, 2021), Jules Stewart has undertaken a sweeping history of the New York City Police Department, beginning with its formal founding in 1845. From a police department of some 800 members, the current NYPD has expanded to meet the growing New York City population, and reported crimes, with an … Continued

As happened to most events recently, NYSBA’s Annual Meeting was again upended, this time by the newest edition of the COVID-19 virus, Omicron. And all of us in the Criminal Justice Section—apart from the forced learning of the Greek alphabet—one letter at a time—were compelled to devise a CLE program that would somehow be useful, … Continued