CRIMINAL LAW COMMITTEE 2008 YEAR-END REPORT

CHAIRPERSONS                 :           SUZANNE S. SMITH

                                                            CLASINA MAHONEY

MEMBERS                           :          

*Caty Mahoney

*Suzanne Smith

Doug Bare

John G. Bergdoll

J.G. Bergdoll

Judge Blackwell

Joshua Bodene

Karen Comery

Christopher Ferro

Jay Kalasnik

Judge Kelley

Jeffrey Marshall

Harry Ness

Robert O'Brien

Judge Renn

Richard Robinson

Jeffrey Rowe

Bobby Schefter

Erin Thompson

Sandra Thompson

Lori Yost

  I.        2008 COMMITTEE GOALS:

            In 2008 our goals were to provide the opportunity to all Bar Association members, as well as criminal law attorneys, to stay current on recent changes in the criminal law field.  We did this by sponsoring CLE’s as well as facilitating an exchange of ideas among the Bench, District Attorneys, and criminal defense attorneys during our meetings. 

 II.       PROJECT STATUS REPORT:

In 2008, we held regular meetings every other month on the fourth Thursday of

the month.  At the meetings we discussed current issues in Criminal Law.   

In addition, we sponsored a CLE on May 28, 2008 on General Probation and Parole Procedures in York County.  This CLE was very informative and well attended.  We also had a CLE on October 2, 2008 on the Overview of YORK/ADAMS MH/MR: What they do and their role in the Criminal Justice  System.  This was also a very informative CLE and very well attended.

Finally, we sponsored two sessions at the local Bench Bar Conference on October 24, 2008.  There was a session on the Treatment Courts in York County for both adults and juveniles.  There was also a session on the general overview of Driver License suspension.  These sessions were very helpful and interactive between the presenters and the attendees.  

III.       2009 RECOMMENDATIONS: 

            We hope to continue to be active in presenting CLE’s in the area of criminal law to members of the Bar Association.  In 2009 we are hoping to have a presentation by the Sentencing Guideline Commission as well as a CLE on State Parole and sentencing issues.

We further hope to continue to increase our membership and to continue our every-other month meetings. 

IV.              OTHER COMMENTS:

We encourage members of the Criminal Defense Bar as well as prosecutors and members of the Bench to attend our meetings and to continue to promote open communication among all those entities. 

V.                 BUDGET REPORT:

For 2008, the Criminal Law Committee had a budget of $2,500.00.  As of the writing of this report, we have used approximately $200.00.  We are having our last monthly meeting on Thursday, December 18, 2008 at the Harp and Fiddle.  This will be general meeting to discuss some recent changes in the law as well as an end of the year Holiday Party.  The Committee will host the event.  We expect that to cost approximately $150.00, and that has not been taken out of the budget at the time of this report.

For 2009, we requested a budget of $2,500.00.