TO ALL RIACDL MEMBERS & CRIMINAL DEFENSE PRACTITIONERS:

After a great deal of discussion, deliberation, and careful monitoring over the course of the last several months, the RIACDL Executive Committee has decided to postpone the special membership meeting announced in prior posts to the RIACDL listserve. The purpose of that meeting would have been to discuss, disseminate information about, and address membership concerns resulting from a public comment made by Chief Justice Suttell in the November 15, 2009 issue of the Providence Sunday Journal. Those comments suggested that the judiciary might be open to exploring alternatives to the current court appointment system including the possibility of contracting with a private law firm to provide these services and the formation of a Task Force to study and make recommendations for addressing cost and other issues. While RIACDL immediately contacted the Chief Justice and was promised membership in any Task Force formed by the court, these comments have rightly caused great concern for many of our members; particularly those for whom court appointed cases comprise some part of their livelihood.

The Executive Committee decided to postpone the membership meeting for a variety of reasons, primarily because it has it on good and reliable authority that it is highly unlikely that any action will be taken by the Judiciary at any point in the foreseeable future. In light of that information, the Executive Committee decided that the best approach is the formation of a special committee whose purpose would be to:

• Closely monitor the situation
• Be proactive in responding to situations as they arise most notably the ongoing audit currently being conducted by the court and its solicitation of ideas from RIACDL to improve the current system
• Keeping the Executive Committee and RIACDL membership regularly informed of its work

The Executive Committee designated the following longstanding RIACDL members to serve on that committee:

• Gerard Donley, Chair
• Thomas Briody
• Therese Caron
• Kenneth Vale
• George West

Please feel free to contact any of these members with any thoughts, concerns, or ideas that you may have with respect to the court appointment process. Finally, RIACDL is planning a social gathering of it members for sometime in June, a chance to catch up with members, network, and share information before we “break” for the summer. More news coming soon.

Mike DiLauro, RIACDL President