The Bench & Bar magazine is published to provide members of the KBA with information that will increase their knowledge of the law, improve the practice of law, and assist in improving the quality of legal services for the citizenry.
Issue link: https://kentuckybenchandbar.epubxp.com/i/546018
The right to counsel stands above all other constitutional protec- tions. "Of all the rights that an accused person has, the right to be represented by counsel is by far the most pervasive for it affects his ability to assert any other rights he may have." U.S. v. Cronic, 466 U.S. 648, 654 (1984). Public defenders statewide gathered June 16, 2015, to recognize individuals advancing the right to counsel and protections for persons facing a loss of liberty. Presentations were made during the 2015 Kentucky Public Defender Recognition L unch in Lexington. The Department of Public Advocacy depends on many lawyers in private practice to provide conflict representation at rates that are inadequate. DPA contracted with 175 attorneys for 3,627 cases in FY 14 at an average of $393 per case. Most were felony cases. For their selfless conflict representation of indigent clients, the KY Bill of Rights was presented to Front Row (L to R): Luke McCall – Western Region; Rawl Kazee – Northern Region; John Austin – Central Re- gion; Johnathan Gay – Bluegrass Region; Ryan Vantrease – Jeffer- son County; Kevin Johnson – Eastern Region. Back Row (L to R): Ed Monahan, Public Advocate; Eric Stovall, Western Region Manager; Chris McNeill, Paducah Directing Attorney; Rodney Barnes, North- ern Region Manager; Leigh Jackson, Owensboro Directing Attor- ney; Jerry Cox, Chair of Public Advocacy Commission; Lisa Whis- man, Stanton Directing Attorney; Dan Goyette, Jefferson Chief Public Defender; Roger Gibbs, Eastern Region Manager; Teresa Whitaker, Bluegrass Region Manager; Glenda Edwards, Trial Divi- sion Director. The following attorneys were recognized with a Minister of Justice Award for their pro bono appel- late representation of Kentucky public defender clients before the Ken- tucky Supreme Court and Kentucky Court of Ap- peals: William H. Fortune (pictured to the right), Jef- frey H. Hoover, Kristin Lo- gan Mischel, Miles Cary, Fred Rhynhart, David Mejia, Colin H. Lindsay, James Lee Adams, Colleen Beach, Ben- jamin Taylor, Trevor W. Wells, Pierre H. Bergeron, Irvin Halbleib, Ja- son Nemes, Anna Whites, Jennifer Hall, Robert Salyer. The Department of Public Advocacy is Kentucky's statewide public defender program providing representation to indigent defendants in all 120 counties in over 157,000 cases a year. June 16, 2015, was the 43d anniversary of the creation of the statewide public defend- er program. House Bill 461 sponsored by Representatives Kenton, Graves and Swinford passed the House 60-18 on March 7, 1972 and passed the Senate 26-5 on March 14, 1972. The legislature al- located $1,287,000 for FY 73 and FY 74. The bill was signed by Governor Ford on March 27, 1972, and became law June 16, 1972. 46 B&B; • 7.15 B A R N E W S (Back Row, standing from left to right) Award Recipients: Tom Griffiths, the Furman Award for his capital advocacy; Leo Smith, the Gideon Award, for his litigation advocacy; Harolyn Howard, the In Re Gault Award, for her juvenile advocacy; Nathan Goodrich, the Professionalism and Ex- cellence Award ; and Jason Riley, the Anthony Lewis Media Award. (Front Row, seated from left to right) Presenter of the P & E Award , KBA President-Elect Doug Farnsley; Award Recipients: Sharon Johnson, Rosa Parks Award , for 13 years of professional of- fice management; J. Michael Brown, Nelson Mandela Award , for safeguarding and advancing the professional independent representation of indigent defendants in Kentucky; Ed Monahan, Public Advocate; Recipient William Johnson, Public Advocate Award , for decades of advancing the right to counsel for all Kentucky defendants and devoted assistance to Kentucky public de- fenders; and recipient, Tammy Morgan, Rosa Parks Award for the high level of case manage- ment service provided to public defender staff across Kentucky. KY Chamber of Commerce President Dave Adkisson, not pictured , also received a Public Advocate Award for steadfast support of reducing incarceration costs through common sense reform. KENTUCKY PUBLIC DEFENDERS RECOGNIZE INDIVIDUALS ADVANCING PROTECTIONS FOR CITIZENS AND THE RIGHT TO COUNSEL AT 2015 GATHERING