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The Bar Association of the District of Columbia’s Board of Directors devotes itself to promoting the creation of a criminal and civil legal aid entity that would provide “competent and conscientious legal assistance” and inspire other communities with its “Report of the Commission on Legal Aid of the Bar Association of the District of Columbia” in 1958.
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Then-Chief Judge of the U.S. Court of Appeals, E. Barrett Prettyman, using the report, leads a group of lawyers who go to the United States Congress and advocate for the establishment of an office that will focus on more serious criminal, juvenile delinquency, and mental health cases.
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Congress establishes the Legal Aid Agency (LAA) under the District of Columbia Legal Aid Act. The purpose of LAA is to represent indigent persons who cannot afford counsel in criminal, juvenile, and mental health commitment proceedings. LAA is located at the United States District Court for D.C. at 333 Constitution Avenue, N.W.
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LAA breaks with past practice by being entirely government-funded and completely independent from the executive, judicial, and legislative branches of government.
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First director of LAA is Charles B. Murray.
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First chairperson of the Board of Trustees is W. Cameron Burton.
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During the first Criminal Justice Act (CJA) attorney strike, due to cut-backs in congressional funding, PDS defends its program — a controlled caseload to ensure the highest quality legal representation — when the Superior Court strongly encourages PDS to take all of the CJA cases. PDS does, however, work closely with the Court to coordinate a large-scale draft of private attorneys to take cases.
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PDS establishes the Correctional Services Program to provide legal services to D.C. prisoners that address criminal law-related problems, institutional administrative matters, and civil matters by referral to organizations (services now provided by the Parole Division and the Prisoner & Reentry Legal Services Program). The program is funded by a grant from the Law Enforcement Assistance Administration, United States Department of Justice.
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PDS is designated an exemplary project and model for other jurisdictions by the Law Enforcement Assistance Administration of the United States Department of Justice resulting from PDS’s exceptional advocacy and proven success through individualized and continuous client representation, comprehensive training, non-legal resources, effective management and administrative systems, involvement with the private and court-appointed defense system, and law reform.
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PDS files the litigation that leads to the adoption in 2002 by the U.S. Parole Commission of deadlines for resolving parole and supervised release revocation cases (Long v. Gaines). Before the litigation, individuals accused of violating their parole or supervised release conditions could spend longer in pre-adjudication detention than the length of the maximum sentence they were facing.
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The number of cases involving forensic science is increasing in the District of Columbia and across the nation, and court-appointed defense attorneys need to become skilled in using this science in the courtroom — a daunting challenge given the degree of technical difficulty inherent in scientific matters. As a result, PDS establishes the PDS Forensic Practice Group, a dedicated group of PDS lawyers who learn and train on matters of forensic science in the courtroom.
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PDS expands its Duty Day Program, a program to respond to telephone and walk-in requests for assistance by the public and criminal justice practitioners regarding legal matters, to include social services, parole, and mental health matters, thereby involving the staff and expertise of its legal and legal support services divisions.
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PDS creates its own case-tracking software, Atticus, that provides comprehensive case management functionality, and allows case-related information on each client to be shared across the organization.
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PDS administers a court-instituted training and certificate program for Criminal Justice Act investigators.
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PDS establishes the Civil Legal Services Unit (now the Civil Legal Services Division (CLS)) to assist children and adults with legal issues related to special education, public benefits, and immigration. CLS provides wraparound services addressing issues facing children in the delinquency system that often hinder their successful reintegration into the community, including special education advocacy for children in the public school system who cannot be adequately educated in a traditional classroom setting due to learning disabilities or other physical or intellectual challenges, as well as other rehabilitative needs of these children. CLS also addresses the needs of adult clients by providing representation in civil matters arising out of their criminal charges. In addition, CLS offers expert consultation for attorneys with clients in the criminal justice system who face immigration consequences.