The NYT's "In a Study, Judges Express a Bleak View of Lawyers Representing Immigrants," is even bleaker than its title, describing a "justice" system for immigrants that is neither just nor systematic. The story reports on The New York Immigrant Representation Study to be published later this week. Although the study describes "grossly inadequate" representation, the minority of detained immigrants who do receive representation fare substantially better than those who do not:
Immigrants in 27 percent of cases between October 2005 and July 2010 appeared in court without a legal representative, according to the report. For detained immigrants, 67 percent appeared alone before a judge.
The report found that immigrants’ fate can depend largely on whether they can find legal representation: About 67 percent of all immigrants with counsel during that five-year period had successful outcomes in their cases, while only 8 percent of those without lawyers prevailed.
The Second Circuit judge who guided the study, Robert Katzmann, called the situation a "dire crisis."
