The following announcement has been issued by the U.S. Department of Justice, soliciting leaders of indigent defense systems, and leaders of efforts to establish organized indigent defense systems in jurisdictions where none currently exist, to assemble multidisciplinary delegations to attend the largest federally sponsored conference on indigent defense in the nation's history. Attorney General Janet Reno and Deputy Attorney General Eric Holder will be featured speakers, as well as defenders, prosecutors, judges and policymakers from across the country.
Delegations are to be assembled by defenders.
The members of delegations which are accepted by OJP will be sent an invitation from OJP and the U.S. Department of Justice. The Office of the Assistant Attorney General and the Bureau of Justice Assistance are sponsoring the Second Annual National Symposium on Indigent Defense, June 29-30 at the Renaissance Mayflower Hotel in Washington, D.C. , to build on the February 1999 National Symposium on Indigent Defense and continue the dialogue on achieving a unified justice system. Delegations of defenders and other key practitioners and policymakers from state and local criminal justice systems across the country will be eligible to attend. About the Symposium Between 80 and 90 percent of all people charged with criminal offenses in America do not have enough money to hire a private lawyer. In these cases, it is the constitutional responsibility of the government to provide counsel, to ensure that criminal proceedings are fair and constitutional, and to protect the innocent.