Page 2 - 2024 OAD First Monday in October Journal

The Office of the Appellate Defender (OAD) is more than an institutional provider of appellate
representation and postconviction advocacy. OAD is a community of individuals dedicated to public
defense, holistic and client-centered advocacy, and criminal justice reform. This community also
includes our clients who are disproportionately people of color and often impacted by excessive
sentences and policies that fuel mass incarceration.

For 36 years OAD has stood as a trusted ally and beacon of hope for hundreds of clients each
year who become ensnared in the criminal legal system and do not have the financial resources to
engage legal counsel. We recognize that poverty, trauma, mental health disorders, and other social
determinants are inextricably intertwined in our clients’ stories. We also know that substandard
housing, food instability, low living wages, no access to quality education, and inadequate preventative
health care are common themes in the lives of the individuals we serve.

In the face of so many hurdles, OAD centers humanity and dignity through its advocacy, legal
representation, and programs:

> Client Services Program (2001) – The client services coordinators collaborate with attorneys
as well as work in an individual capacity to ensure that clients are supported in areas collateral
to their legal issues. They assist and advocate for clients in the areas of parole advocacy,
conditions of confinement, and re-entry.

> Reinvestigation Project (2007) – OAD understands the significance of challenging wrongful
convictions at the earliest possible stage. The Reinvestigation Project identifies and then
thoroughly litigates—after a careful examination of each case assigned to our office—those
with hallmark signs of a wrongful conviction.

> DVSJA Project (2019) – The Domestic Violence Survivors Justice Act (DVSJA) created an
avenue of relief for people in prison who have also been victimized by domestic abuse. Our
project advocates for current and former clients whose punishments do not reflect this
substantial mitigation. OAD staff use trauma-informed practices to discuss with our clients
their past histories and to educate decision-makers on the importance of the entirety of our
clients’ stories.

> Non-Citizen Client Project (2021) – Many of our clients are non-citizens who face a variety
of harsh immigration consequences. We conduct a thorough analysis to determine how/if the
conviction on appeal might impact the immigration status of the client and then determine a
path forward that offers the best chance of mitigating the immigration consequences.

OAD was founded as and continues to operate as a training office that not only provides high
quality representation to individual clients, but also improves the quality of indigent defense
throughout the state through its Criminal Appellate Defender Clinic at New York University Law
School and Volunteer Appellate Defender (VAD) Program that allows attorneys at private law firms
to co-counsel appeals with OAD attorneys.

To learn more about OAD, visit www.oadnyc.org.