WHEREAS, the National Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers (NACDL) seeks to reach out to all defense lawyers and encourages them to join NACDL and to take advantage of its many member benefits;
WHEREAS, while the overall numbers of members has increased over the past several years, the number of Public Defender members has decreased, and now stands at just 19% of overall members;
WHEREAS, NACDL now has approximately 70 Public Defenders in the State of Georgia;
WHEREAS, the Georgia Public Defender Standards Council (GPDSC) has approached NACDL and has asked that NACDL extend member services to all of its Public Defenders, and WHEREAS, additionally, the GPDSC has also requested that its office managers in 49 statewide offices each receive a copy of The Champion magazine every month;
WHEREAS, the GPDSC expects to have approximately 400 Public Defenders on its payroll as of January 1, 2005, and WHEREAS, it expects to increase that number during 2005, to as many as 500 or more Public Defenders by year end;
WHEREAS, GPDSC has offered to pay NACDL a fee of $30,000.00, representing NACDL’s normally-discounted membership recruitment rate of $75 per Public Defender for GPDSC’s approximately 400 Public Defenders;
WHEREAS, the GPDSC will budget for, and will encourage, its Public Defenders to attend NACDL’s Continuing Legal Education seminars;
WHEREAS, the NACDL Membership Committee has endorsed this proposal and believes that it serves as a recruitment tool not only for Georgia’s Public Defenders, but will also encourage said Public Defenders to join NACDL as regular members once they leave the GPDSC;
WHEREAS, NACDL’s Executive Committee has endorsed this proposal, and WHEREAS, it believes further study needs to take place about the implications of similar group memberships, and to determine if a new Bylaws amendment is required to create a “Group Membership” category, and to recommend a per-member fee for such Group Membership, and to consider the benefits that might be accorded to members of the group;
WHEREAS, NACDL President Barry C. Scheck has appointed a committee to study the implications of Group Membership, consisting of Membership Committee Chair Cheney Mason, Bylaws Committee Chair Edward Mallett, Second Vice President Carmen Henandez, Past President Lawrence Goldman, and possibly other members, still to be appointed;
NOW, LET IT BE RESOLVED, that NACDL extend Member Services to all Public Defenders employed by the State of Georgia, and that such Public Defenders shall enjoy all rights and privileges enjoyed by NACDL’s Associate Members, and that GPDSC’s office managers in its 49 statewide offices each receive a copy of The Champion magazine every month;
BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED, that NACDL shall accept a fee of $30,000.00 from GPDSC for this purpose;
BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED, that this program is limited to one year (from March 1, 2005 – February 28, 2006) and that it will be considered as a pilot program, and that both NACDL and the GPDSC will renegotiate this agreement prior to its expiration, assuming that both parties seek to renew the agreement;
BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED, that individual Public Defenders employed by the State of Georgia may individually pay an additional fee of $50.00 per person so that they may become Public Defender Members and vote in the 2005 – 2006 NACDL elections and so that they may receive a discount of 50% off of one NACDL Continuing Legal Education seminar during the duration of this agreement (March 1, 2005 – February 28, 2006).
New Orleans, Louisiana
