In case you don’t know it, the world of public defenders just received its very own patron saint—no, not Sir Thomas More, he’s for all attorneys. I am speaking specifically about our public defenders who are on the front lines advocating and defending individuals who need it most. Jonathan Gradess, a giant in the field, died on Oct. 2 after an extensive life of service for people navigating the criminal justice system that too often is stacked against them.

What most people don’t realize about Jonathan is that aside from his duties running the New York State Defenders Association, he was the staunchest advocate—perhaps the father—of the criminal justice reforms we passed this year. He worked tirelessly to even the playing field for defendants. As a matter of fact, Jonathan knew how to get to legislators and was relentless on important issues.  It was very common for him to wait until just after our administrative assistants would leave for the day—and then innocently walk all the way back into my office.  Then he would proceed to review all his concerns—which quite frankly were always valid.  Jonathan had a great impact on shaping and changing my views on criminal justice issues.  When as chair of the Codes Committee, I lead the vote to kill the death penalty—Jonathan was behind the scenes working that process. Not only did he lead the way in abolishing the death penalty, he was always fighting for the downtrodden and disenfranchised.

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