$2.4 Million in DOJ Funding Toward Improving Indigent Defense
From the ABA Journal:
U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder today announced two new Justice Department programs aimed at helping to bolster indigent defense services at the state and local levels.
Between them, the two programs will make up to $2.4 million in federal funding available to research projects studying the barriers that prevent criminal defendants from receiving effective legal assistance, and to support direct efforts to break down those barriers.
“These initiatives represent an unprecedented level of support—from this Justice Department and from the administration as a whole—for reforming America’s legal system, and improving its ability to serve those who find quality representation to be out of reach,” said Holder in a luncheon speech at the Seventh Annual Summit on Indigent Defense Improvement presented by the ABA Standing Committee on Legal Aid and Indigent Defendants. The summit was held in New Orleans during the ABA’s 2012 Midyear Meeting.
Holder announced that the National Institute of Justice, a part of the Office of Justice Programs, will begin officially soliciting applications within the next few weeks for grants to support research on fundamental issues of access to legal services, including the need for quality representation, at the state and local levels. He said the institute will commit up to $1 million to support these grants.