The New York state legislature, governor and counties have repeatedly reminded us that indigent legal defense and the representation of families and children is not their priority, even in our state, which is viewed as one of the most progressive states in the nation. In the landmark case of Gideon v. Wainwright, 371 U.S. 335 (1963), the U.S. Supreme Court declared that both the Fourteenth and the Sixth Amendments of the U.S. Constitution require states to furnish legal counsel to all indigent defendants accused of felony crimes. Despite the fact that our state government is clearly responsible for making sure constitutional protections are afforded to all of its citizens, remarkably our state government has found a way to dodge this obligation. They have done this by both neglecting to fund programs designed to protect constitutional rights, and by saddling the financial responsibility to meet this mandate on to the counties.

The rate of pay for the attorneys who provide vital counsel to adult litigants in both criminal and family legal proceedings, the "18-b attorneys", can be found in county Law. This vital law facilitates the shifting of New York state's financial obligation to provide legal counsel to the indigent on to the counties. Essentially, county Law is the mechanism that is supposed to ensure adequate representation for those who are unable to afford to hire a private attorney, yet it is built on a thin layer of ice, vulnerable to collapse over time as the rate of pay for such services gradually becomes stagnant. This system is deeply flawed and has been neglected and falling apart at the seams thanks to mismanagement in the halls of our state government.