The National Defender Investigator Association (NDIA) is the only international organization to represent a constituency dedicated solely to the investigative arm of indigent defense.
A REQUEST FOR ACTION!
Listed below are the proposed budget cuts that have been proposed through the NC House of Representatives. These cuts would affect offices throughout the state; in fact, it would eliminate half of the positions within the state of North Carolina. To paraphrase a comment from their meetings, it was mentioned that maybe we/public defender offices, could use law enforcement for our investigations! I would really appreciate some assistance from my fellow board members and NDIA representatives. Please contact or email the following NC House Representatives and let them know the importance of the service we provide to the clients we serve:
(919)733-5820
(919)715-3026
Thanking you in advance.
Marvin T. Jeffcoat, Southeast Director
___________________________________________
REVENUE OPTIONS.
Here's some of the possible cuts announced today:
AOC
*ELIMINATE Drug Treatment Court - $1.952 mil *ELIMINATE Family Court - $2.8 mil
*ELIMINATE Dispute Mediation - $1.6 mil
*ELIMINATE all DA Investigator Positions *ELIMINATE 20% of Supervisor and Administrator Guardian Ad Litem Positions
*REDUCE VICTIM-WITNESS LEGAL ASSISTANTS FROM 1.35 to 1 for every 2 ADAs *REMOVE all continuation budget increases in AOC
*REDUCE clerks by 10%
OIDS
*REDUCE PAC FUND - $5 - $18.4 mil
*ELIMINATE 20 PD Investigator Positions
*ELIMINATE (Gov) or REDUCE (Senate) Sentencing Services - $283,029 - $2.8 mil
*REDUCE PAC CONTRACT Rate by $10 - $8,500,000 *ELIMINATE CENTER FOR DEATH PENALTY LITIGATION
DJJDP Target: $27,470,832 in Reductions
*ELIMINATE CONTINUATION BUDGET INCREASES - $7.7 mil *CLOSE Samarkand YDC
*CLOSE Dobbs YDC
*ELIMINATE PASS THROUGH TO GOV'S 1 ON 1 - $1.6 MIL
*ELIMINATE PASS THROUGH TO BOYS AND GIRLS CLUB *REDUCE ECKERD WILDERNESS
CAMP RATE - $1.4 MIL
*ELIMINATE Center for Prevention of School Violence - $474,000
*ON THE POSITIVE SIDE - No proposed reduction of JCPC programs.
Again, these are only some of the suggested cuts and similar recommendations are being made across state government.
Eliminations and cuts are recommended for virtually all of the community-based corrections programs that work together with supervised probationers to provide some level of rehabilitative services. THESE CUTS WILL OBLITERATE ANY ATTEMPT TO PROVIDE REHABILITATIVE OPTIONS IN OUR COMMUNITIES.
Community-based corrections programs are saving the state millions, but not if they aren't funded. A Revenue Package must be included in the House budget and it's time to let your legislators know that you support a revenue package in order to maintain critical services.
More information will be coming soon.
2009 NDIA Regional Conference
Town & Country Resort
San Diego, CA
September 17-18, 2009
Per Diem: $138.00
Express Shuttle, San Diego services Los Angeles and San Diego
Make shuttle reservations at xpresshuttle.com or 800-900-RIDE.
Rides are $10 one-way.
Taxis are available for approximately $18 each way.
Parking is available for $6 per day.
Registration Form
Online Registration Website
Article on San Diego
NDIA Regional Golf Outing
The NDIA Regional Golf Outing 4-Person Scramble will be held:
Wednesday, 16, 2009
at the Riverwalk Golf Cub in San Diego, CA during the 2009 NDIA Regional Conference. Registration begins at 7:00 a.m. A shotgun tee-off begins at 8:00 a.m. If you have questions, please contact Sylvia Summers at 704-780-0289 or
.
For those interested in sponsoring the Golf Outing, please read this letter.
To register, click the icon of the form below:
To go to the Riverwalk Golf Club website, click the icon below:
To view the brocure, click here.
"The accused, their lawyers, and even prosecutors agree that courts increasingly neglect their constitutional duties. In a series of Capitol Hill hearings, the latest scheduled for this week, congress members are struggling to grasp the enormity of the crisis. But the options are far from clear, particularly when virtually every state and local government is crying poor..."
Pursuit magazine, an "e-zine", is available to private investigators as well as public defender investigators. It's original intent was that of continuing education for licensed private investigators. It has grown in readership around the world. The subscription is free. To subscribe, go here.
CrimeReports.com is a free website that documents individual crimes in many cities throughout the U.S. It documents all types of crimes, gives each crime a unique identifier, lists the location of the crime, and plots the location of the crime on a Google map.
THE UNITED STATES SUPREME COURT MAKES IMPORTANT AUTOMOBILE SEARCH DECISION!
Earlier this month, the United States Supreme Court issued a very important decision in Arizona v. Gant, in which the Court held (it was a 4-1-4 decision, with Scalia writing a separate opinion joining the majority) that a warrantless search of a vehicle, on the grounds that it was incident to arrest, was unreasonable and, therefore, unconstitutional, where the occupant had been arrested, handcuffed, and placed in a police cruiser prior to the search being undertaken. In doing so, the majority rejected the broad reading of New York v. Belton, 453 U.S. 454 (1981), which many courts had applied to justify warrantless searches of the vehicles after the occupant had been arrested and the scene had been secured. A warrantless search, the Court held in Gant, would only be justified when the police reasonably believed that evidence of the offense for which the defendant was arrested might be found in the vehicle.
In Gant, the defendant was arrested for driving on a suspended license. After being handcuffed and placed in a police cruiser, the police searched his car and found cocaine in the pocket of a jacket on the backseat. Gant clearly could not have accessed his car to retrieve weapons or evidence. Furthermore, as Gant was arrested for driving on a suspended license, there was no reason to believe that evidence of that offense would be found in his car and, consequently, the warrantless search was not supportable on such grounds.
Neveda Supreme Court's Ruling
In The Matter Concerning Representation of Indigent Defendants In Criminal And Juvenile Deliquency Cases
Read Now.
Read the complete report here.
MEXICO CRIMINAL AND CIVIL RECORD INDEX NOW ONLINE
Mexico now has criminal and civil records indexed online, but the system is fee-based.
To read more about the system, go to pibuzz.com. To visit the website, go here.
"Science Found Wanting In Nation's Crime Labs"-NY Times
The National Academy of Sciences calls for improvements in forensic labs...
click here.
To read the full report click here.
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