Law Offices of Lori Cohen, Esq.

03/16/2022

Everybody has issues with an attorney who is a criminal defense attorney…….until they need one to zealously represent them! Upholding the basic tenants of the Constitution should NEVER be disqualifying.

Republicans have vilified Biden’s judicial nominees who have represented criminal suspects. Judge Ketanji Brown Jackson, for the Supreme Court, is the most prominent.

12/06/2021

Good question……..

The Justice Department’s Office of Professional Responsibility needs an overhaul.

05/30/2020

New York State Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers (NYSACDL) poignant response to the current situation.

“We know what we are seeing when we watch a police officer slowly squeeze a black man’s life away in broad daylight, amid a circle of helpless onlookers,” wrote the New York State Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers.

01/31/2020

My term is up, my crown retired. It was a great run! New York State Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers (NYSACDL)

01/28/2020

Bail has been used to punish the poor for too long.

In 1947, New York’s highest court declared that the amount of bail “must be no more than is necessary to guarantee [defendant’s] presence at the trial.” The use of unaffordable bail as a form of preventive detention — to prevent future crimes — was expressly rejected.

01/05/2020

These reforms respond to the urgency of a system that often allows a person’s race and income to determine their freedom -- a system that tramples on the idea that a person is innocent unless they are proven guilty.

(photo: Governor's Office) Nearly five years ago, Jerome Murdough, an African-American Marine Corps veteran, died on Rikers Island due to a combination of injustice, inhumanity, and medical neglect. Afflicted by homelessness and mental illness, Murdough tragically passed away when temperatures in hi...

12/27/2019

People demonize us, until they or a loved one needs us. Criminal defense attorneys are some of the smartest, most dedicated attorneys I know.

That this is now common practice at Harvard underscores the depth and breadth of constitutional ignorance.

11/08/2019

“I don’t know a criminal defense attorney who has not cried......”. Truth.

Given the nature of the job, direct and indirect stress go with the territory. What can be done about it?

08/10/2019

New York State Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers (NYSACDL) is working on a trial penalty project in NYS.

American prosecutors are equipped with a fearsome array of tools they can and do use to discourage people from exercising their right to a jury trial.

08/08/2019

I have loved having the privilege to defend people for thirty five years.

Criminal defense lawyers are often criticized for the alleged – or real -- sins of their clients.

07/18/2019

Yes!

Those who want to reduce the criminal justice system's inequities should focus less on detaining the rich and entitled and more on freeing everyone else.

06/29/2019

Happy PRIDE!!!!