One by one, the dominoes fell.  First state courts.  Then the outlier districts, and the Eastern District.  Until there was but one.  That’s right, there is now only one courthouse in New York where a lawyer not on the public dole is treated as so scurrilous, so dangerous, so unworthy, that she cannot be trusted.  It’s the Southern District of New York.  The mother ship.

When I first raised my right hand and stated in a stentorian voice, “I, state you name, do hereby . . .,” there were no cards issued by any government entity to prove to others that you were, indeed, a lawyer.  It was sufficient that you said so, and no one thought to challenge the assertion.  Perhaps it was because no one would claim to be a lawyer unless it was true, but that’s how it was.

Then came the New York City Corrections Department ID card, which included a photograph of our taking on a card that would embarrass a Times Square cubbyhole owner.  It was so amateurish that it would cause uproarious laughter today.  Soon, the Office of Court Administration picked up the gauntlet and issued ID cards of its own, which Corrections spitefully refused to recognize as official given its preference for its own in the turf war.

Lawyers were required to provide their bar numbers.  We didn’t even know we had bar numbers.

It’s hard to remember whether this happened over weeks, years or decades, but there was a point where the court system decided that lawyers, like our clients, would have to pass through the magnetometers, empty our pockets, take off our belts and cufflinks, to gain entrance to the trenches.  That lasted only a brief period, until Dick Barbuto, then President of the New York State Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers and now the Blind Guy, sent a letter to the Office of Court Administration advising them that we would not be treated like the scum of the profession, with ADAs given red carpet treatment while we were forced to do the perp walk.  OCA back down immediately.

Then came the Secure Pass.  What made this special was a cool name and the ability to charge lawyers for the pleasure of having an identification card that told the world they had no felony convictions.  It had holograms, and secret hidden stuff that only showed under the glow of black lights.  Lawyers were now truly official, as few cubbyholes in Times Square could reproduce a card this secure.  Not that anyone would want to.

The secure pass was touted for its, well, security.  It’s highly professional appearance.  It’s many security features.  It was very official. Accordingly, it was accepted everywhere I went, courthouses around the country.  I was treated with the same respect shown attorneys everywhere, for better or worse.  But no one questioned whether I was an attorney.

Except in the Southern District of New York.

One courthouse.  Just one courthouse.  Entering through the magnetometer portal, emptying pockets (thought thankfully being allowed to keep one’s Guccis on one’s feet) remained de rigor at the federal courthouses, lest we bear a slight resemblance to swarthy Mediterranean looking fellows.  It would be too much to expect criminal defense lawyers to be treated like AUSA, who strolled through with a flash of their government issued IDs, not missing a beat.  But this was a minor indignity that will likely remain intact forever. 

There is one thing that happens in the Southern District of New York that happens in no other courthouse:  They refuse to allow attorneys to enter with a cellphone.  Or a crackberry.  Or laptop.  Or any of the computering-communicating type devices that have become as essential to the practice of law as breathing.

There are a laundry list of reasons for this.  Security.  Disturbance.  Just to remind us who’s boss.  The message is clear.  We cannot be trusted to enter a courthouse with our devices hanging from our belt without causing trouble.  It is better to strip away the accouterments of modern society than risk a rogue lawyer on a cellphone.

To its credit, the NYSACDL actually wrote a letter to Judge Paul Crotty arguing for an end to this embargo.  The letter may be tepid and obvious, but it’s the first thing done that might actually improve the lot of criminal defense lawyers in years.  This could be the start of a trend.

Will it work?  Will the Southern District of New York, like its fellow districts, accept us as responsible lawyers, capable of making our way through a courthouse without wreaking crackberry havoc?  Or will the future end at the doorway at 500 Pearl Street?

You can trust us.  We’re lawyers.  We have cards to prove it.

Update:  Per the NYSACDL twit, it’s been announced that Donna Newman will testify at the hearing on 7/29.  I expect all 12 followers will be ecstatic to learn this, and I wish Donna best of luck.  This would be a really good time for Donna to speak out loud and clear, and put aside the fear and equivocation that might control the more squeamish on the board.  And I hope it pans out to be accurate that criminal defense lawyers are heard hearing.  The fact that the NYSACDL wasn’t involved from the outset was a disgrace.  Now that it found its way to the table (assuming it actually happens), make it mean something.