BorderLayoutBoxedLayoutOpenLayout Maximum textMedium textSmall text


Saturday, July 04, 2009

The Office of the Federal Public Defender, Western District of Texas, operates under authority of the Criminal Justice Act of 1964 (CJA), 18 U.S.C. § 3006A. It provides defense services in federal criminal cases and other covered matters to individuals who are financially unable to obtain adequate representation. A person’s eligibility for defender services is determined by the federal court. Defender organization attorneys may not engage in the private practice of law.

The defender organization for this district is headquartered in San Antonio, and it has staffed branches in El Paso, Del Rio, Austin, and Alpine.

The primary purpose of this site is to support CJA panel attorneys of the Western District of Texas in their appointed cases. Additionally, information is provided for federal defendants and others interested in criminal cases in our district.  None of the information on this site is intended as, or should be taken as, legal advice.


 

Announcements

Welcome to the redesigned, expanded website

of the Federal Public Defender for the Western District of Texas!

New features include special information for CJA counsel, for non-lawyers and for clients and their families. The redesigned website also includes a new, more interactive index to our appellate brief bank. Links to other websites and useful information have also been updated and expanded.

In the coming weeks, we hope to add more information, including materials from seminars and additional information in Spanish. For now, please browse and enjoy!

Henry Bemporad
Federal Public Defender
Western District of Texas

 

Sentencing Commission Submits Proposed Amendments to Congress

On May 1st the Sentencing Commission submitted a slate of proposed Guidelines amendments to Congress.  They will take effect November 1, 2009, absent congressional action.  You can read the amendments in the Federal Register notice, as well as a reader-friendly redline.  A short summary of the amendments, as well as links to defender comments, are available here.

 

DOJ Backs Elimination of Crack/Powder Disparity; Issues Guidance to Line Prosecutors

The Department of Justice recently voiced the Obama Adminstration's support for elimination of the sentencing disparity between crack and powder cocaine offenses, and issued this memorandum to all federal prosecutors to provide guidance for implementing the new policy.  The memo also contains Assistant Attorney General Lanny A. Breuer's testimony before a congressional committee studying the issue.

 

Copyright 2008 Office of the Federal Public Defender - Western District of Texas       Website by intrabest.com