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February 18, 2015
TO THE PRESIDENT AND MEMBERS OF THE
COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF PHILADELPHIA:
As the sponsor of Bill No. 150001 has pointed out repeatedly and forcefully, it is crucial that the Administration and Council together "ensure that standards are being met and adequate representation will be given to those indigent individuals requiring the services of conflict counsel."1 It is precisely because I believe that the words of the sponsor are correct and should be taken seriously that I am returning this bill to your Honorable Body unsigned. This bill does not really address the issue. I would, however, respectfully propose to work with the sponsor and members on further legislation to clarify standards, and streamline the contracting and approval process.
This bill merely singles out for special scrutiny any contracts that include conflict counsel services with Community Legal Services, the Defender Association, and the Support Center for Child Advocates. These are three of the finest organizations in the field of indigent defense and legal services. The Support Center for Child Advocates already does extensive conflicts work, but does not need further scrutiny because of the consistently high quality of its work. To the extent another of the organizations singled out in this bill may take on conflicts work, there is little doubt they too would perform it to the highest levels of excellence.
The question we must answer with respect to this bill is what does it accomplish? Council review of any contract with these organizations is not the problem-we, Council and the Administration alike, should all welcome the opportunity to keep these peerless legal advocates in service to our City and to the constitutional rights of indigent defendants. There has never been an issue with the quality of the services these organizations provide, and there seems to be no reason to specially engage Council's scrutiny of them among all other possible prov...
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