NYCLA Hosts Public Forum: It’s Not Just a Summons! on October 21

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

CONTACT: Anita Aboulafia 212-267-6646, ext. 225, aaboulafia@nycla.org

 

NYCLA Hosts Public Forum: It’s Not Just a Summons! on October 21

 

OCTOBER 20, 2009 – NEW YORK, NY – The New York County Lawyers’ Association’s (NYCLA) Criminal Justice Section will host a free public forum, It’s Not Just a Summons!, examining New York City’s summons practice, from issuance to adjudication, on Wednesday, October 21 at 6:00 PM at the NYCLA Home of Law, 14 Vesey Street in lower Manhattan.

 

Each year nearly 600,000 New Yorkers receive a summons to a local criminal court and yet the procedures and issues concerning these criminal cases may be little understood by our citizens. Panelists will examine the New York City summons practice and educate the public about the policies, procedures and collateral consequences of these summonses.

 

Forum panelists are: Hon. Eileen Koretz, former supervising judge and presiding judge of the Midtown Community Court, NYC Criminal Court – New York County; Robert Cassidy, supervisory clerk, Citywide Summons Operation, NYC Criminal Court; Gerianne Abriano, bureau chief, Kings County District Attorney’s Office for Red Hook Community Justice Center; McGregor Smyth, managing attorney, civil action practice and reentry net director, The Bronx Defenders; Eve Rosahn, director, Parole Revocation Defense Unit, The Legal Aid Society; and Conway C. Martindale II, Esq., assigned counsel. The forum will be moderated by Hon. Michael J. Yavinsky, interim judge of the New York City Civil Court, assigned to Criminal Court, NYCLA board member and former chair of the Criminal Justice Section.

 

The NYCLA Justice Center and Civil Rights & Liberties Committee are co-sponsors of the event.

 

The New York County Lawyers’ Association (www.nycla.org) was founded in 1908 as the first major bar association in the country that admitted members without regard to race, ethnicity, religion or gender. Since its inception, it has pioneered some of the most far-reaching and tangible reforms in American jurisprudence and has continuously played an active role in legal developments and public policy.

 

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