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Reuben Kramer's monumental bronze sculpture of Justice Thurgood Marshall stands outside the U.S. Courthouse in Baltimore, the Justice's hometown.  In his early years as a private lawyer in Baltimore, Justice Marshall often accepted cases on behalf of  people who needed a lawyer but could not afford one. 

Three criminal cases had a profound effect upon his development as a lawyer.  In 1936, he persuaded an all-white jury in Baltimore to acquit a weak-minded youngster on the charge of murder.  He successfully represented a criminal defense attorney charged with the "ethical violation" of having maintained that his client's conviction was a result of racial prejudice.  And in 1935,  James Gross, young man whom Justice Marshall unsuccessfully represented on the charge of having aided and abetted murder, was hanged in the Maryland Penitentiary.

Fred Bennett's Death

      Former Federal Public Defender Fred W. Bennett, died on July 15, 2007. Fred was special. One of those people who -- because of his larger-than-life presence -- could simply be referred to by his first name and everyone -- at least in the criminal defense community -- knew immediately who was being discussed. And they probably knew to get ready for yet another "Fred story." Many of our friends responded to the e-mail announcement of Fred's death by sharing a memory of his tenacity as a litigator, or how patient Fred was in dispensing advice or inspiring young lawyers. Teacher, litigator, mentor: Fred touched a lot of lives.

     The Federal Public Defender’s Office for the District of Maryland will always bear Fred’s imprint. His portrait presides prominently in our conference room. He spoke at a number of office trainings and joined us for celebrations of important office events. Most importantly, he hired Susan Bauer, Joe Balter, Denise Barrett, Joe Segreti, Renee Watts, and others, much of the backbone of our current office, who remain to maintain Fred’s memory and his legacy of commitment to the right to counsel and the dream of equal justice.

CJA Training

     Our Fall CJA training is scheduled for November 16, 2007 at the Greenbelt Courthouse. We will again use the Jury Assembly Room on the first floor. This space allows us to include small group breakout sessions as part of our program. Please contact us if you have thoughts on topics or speakers that we should include in our training.

Electronic Case Filing

  The District of Maryland is again revisiting electronic case filing (ECF) in criminal cases. Our Court has been  concerned with several implications of implementing ECF, including the potential to create greater security problems for cooperators. But we are one of the last Districts in the nation without electronic filing in criminal cases, and having ready online access to documents would be useful. Although we continue to work on effective security safeguards, it now seems only a matter of time before ECF is in place for criminal cases.

  AFPD Jeff Risberg and CJA Panel Representatives Tim Sullivan and Bill Purpura are the defense representatives on the Court’s Committee addressing ECF and the related security issues. Judge Motz, who is leading the process, has set a timetable for implementation on January 1, 2008. When ECF goes into effect, we will assist counsel with training.

   
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