By Regina Holmes and Stephen Janis
Few neighborhoods in Baltimore City, let alone the country, have a so-called "expungement day."
But an aggressive zero-tolerance arrest policy coupled with intractable social ills like drug addiction have made Wednesdays the day when residents who live in lower Park Heights cram the offices of Neighborhood Defenders, seeking to have minor arrests erased from their records so they can find a job or rent an apartment.
The program, launched in 2007 to provide both legal and social services to residents of the impoverished neighborhood, was the topic of discussion Thursday as judges, public defenders, and legal experts gathered at the University of Maryland School of Law to debate the future of legal services for the poor.
"I'm living the future of criminal defense," said Neighborhood Defenders Executive Director Natalie Finegar, who, in noting the various services her office offers, described the throngs that showed up the previous day trying to get their records expunged.
Dwindling resources and budget cutbacks have put pressure on the state public defender system, leading to some criticism of the program for taking resources that would be better spent on hiring more lawyers.
But Finegar said residents facing legal issues generally needed more than legal counsel, a need her office addresses.
"Our office is an experiment," she said. "We want to incorporate other holistic services in other parts of the Public Defender's Office."
Baltimore's version of Neighborhood Defenders, located at 4910 Park Heights Ave., is based on a similar program in Harlem. The program was designed to address failings in the public defenders system, including poor accessibility, little contact between clients and lawyers prior to trial, and lack of support services.
Since the office's inception, Finegar said it has become a focal point for the impoverished community, as she works to address the challenges many of her clients face, such as homelessness and unemployment. Such challenges contribute to the "revolving door" at Central Booking, she said.
"It makes good fiscal sense to pass this [work] off to a social worker," because they earn less than attorneys, she said. "It frees the attorney to litigate and defend the client."
Alternatives to sentencing
Social worker Vickie Piontkowski described how she assists attorneys pre-trial in creating alternatives to sentencing. In many cases, she said, some kind of treatment — for drug addiction or mental illness, for example — makes more sense than jail. Her work doesn't end when a client goes before a judge but continues while a client is serving time or on probation, she said.
"I help people both before and after they're released."
Still, despite success touted by Finegar, some panelists said the program's future was shaky given state finances, and would be almost impossible to replicate in other needy areas.
"There's never going to be the political will to allocate money and put Park Heights type of services around [the state]," said Baltimore City Circuit Court Judge John Prevas, who urged the audience to put "constant pressure" on Gov. Martin O'Malley for additional funds.
Prevas also called for new legislation to clarify some of the issues with regard to Neighborhood Defenders, namely the language in Maryland's Code of Criminal Procedure referring to the role of the Public Defender. Prevas also suggested that Neighborhood Defenders develop a mission statement.
Overall, the judge said, the organization is effective and is worth keeping — and expanding.
"We should be evolving to having lots of little Park Heightses all over the place," he conceded.
Another panelist described problems that can hamper clients' ability to get back on their feet once out of jail, challenges she referred to as "collateral consequences." Neighborhood Services' "Related Services Attorney" Mary-Denise Davis said "collateral consequences" can include losing Section 8 housing or being fired. (Davis's title refers to the ambiguously worded Maryland Code with regard to the "related services" the public defender is supposed to offer the community, in addition to providing criminal defense for indigents.)
"I don't think it's possible for litigators to deal with other issues," Davis said.
Slow in returning money
Davis also helps clients track down money. She noted that police are slow in returning money taken from suspects, often leaving poor clients unable to make bail or pay bills upon release.
"Many clients are having difficulty getting back money that was confiscated from them at the time of arrest," she said.
"Even if they are exonerated, sometimes they have trouble getting money returned to them. I help them get it back."
Just ensuring people have the proper bail can have a positive effect on the community that has been targeted by an aggressive arrest policy, argued law professor Douglas Colbert, director of the university's Access to Justice Clinic.
"More than 90 percent of the people in pre-trial [detention] are African-American," and most are poor or working poor, he noted.
"It's ideal to represent a client from the very beginning, even before the bail review," he added, noting that such a situation allows the client and attorney to develop a rapport.
He stressed the importance of a client's working with the same attorney from start to finish. "Continuity of representation is very important."
Finegar emphasized that the office serves not only indigent clients, but the entire community as well. "We're a public resource for everyone."
Finegar said she has had few complaints in the year she has been on the job, something she attributes to the warm, inviting atmosphere in the office as well as the manner in which clients are received.
"People are being treated with a great deal of dignity and respect."
Colbert added: "Our battle should be to create more community-based offices, not less."
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