The Right to an Attorney: Under Threat

12/05/19 • 31 min

(0.5 Ethics California MCLE) The Sixth Amendment provides a right to counsel for indigents in criminal cases, but that right may be an empty promise when public defense organizations lack funding to provide adequate assistance. Seymour James, Attorney-in-Chief of The Legal Aid Society, explains the impact on access to justice for the poor when that right is undermined.

Seymour James served as the Attorney-in-Chief of The Legal Aid Society, the largest and oldest public defender organization in the U.S. from 2014-2018. The Legal Aid Society has a staff of over 1,000 lawyers and more than 700 social workers, investigators, paralegals, and support staff, and handles more than 300,000 cases and legal matters for clients. James is now a partner at the law firm Barket Epstein. He has also been active in several bar associations, including the New York State Bar Association for which he served as president from 2012 to 2013 and treasurer from 2008 to 2011.

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The Battle at the Ballot: Voting Rights Today

(0.5 General California MCLE) 50+ years after the end of Jim Crow, voting rights remains a hotly contested issue. Professor Issacharoff explains to guest host Suraj Patel the history of voter suppression and the Voting Rights Act, and breaks down the modern debate to its elements.

Samuel Issacharoff is the Reiss Professor of Constitutional Law at New York University School of Law. His wide-ranging research deals with issues in civil procedure, law and economics, constitutional law, particularly with regard to voting rights and electoral systems, and employment law. After law school, he served as a law clerk at the Third Circuit Court of Appeals and then spent the early part of his career as a voting rights laws. Professor Issacharoff is one of the pioneers in the law of political process and has co-authored a casebook and numerous publications on the subject.

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Super PACs & Dark Money

(0.5 General California MCLE) American political campaigns are increasingly financed by Super PACs and shadowy nonprofits. Some believe that too much money being funneled by special interest groups and wealthy donors opens the door to corruption and influence buying. Host Suraj Patel sits down with Columbia Law Professor Briffault to explore campaign finance laws and get to the bottom of this complicated debate.

Professor Richard Briffault is the Joseph P. Chamberlain Professor of Legislation at Columbia Law School. He joined the Columbia Law faculty in 1983. He was law clerk to the Honorable Shirley M. Hufstedler of the United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit, and was Assistant Counsel to New York Governor Hugh L. Carey. In 2014, Professor Briffault was appointed Chair of the Conflicts of Interest Board of the City of New York. He has served as the Reporter for the American Law Institute's project on Principles of Government Ethics.