SYLVIA ORENSTEIN WINS A BIG ONE

As many of you know, my mother, Sylvia, is an attorney in the Appellate Division of the New Jersey Public Defenders Office. After raising three kids, she went to law school, beat out all those twenty somethings and made law review, clerked for a judge, and then went to a large law firm where she worked "part time" 60 hours a week. Eventually, she switched to defending poor people and has to her credit a major decision on cross-racial identification in the New Jersey Supreme Court. She is currently working on a death penalty case. In between her briefs for her regular clients and requests for sentence reductions, she also took on a particularly sick and deserving prisoner who was probably innocent in the first place and certainly had served sufficient time. Almost blind with a severe heart condition, Bobby Cumber was a worthy candidate for clemency. A brilliant and moving clemency petition by Sylvia Orenstein, esq., prompted New Jersey Governor Codey to grant clemency to Mr. Cumber. To read about it, check out http://www.nj.com/news/ledger/jersey/index.ssf?/base/news-2/1137304018259080.xml&coll=1 In the clemency petition my mother stressed the severe questions about Mr. Cumber's guilt (at best he was a bit player who had no idea a murder was being planned), his frail health, and the fact that the prison system medical care had not been adequate to his pressing health needs. As you can imagine, the genre is a delicate one -- the primary argument for clemency is mercy for a sick person, but she also managed to demonstrate the possibility of innocence and hint at the terrible care he received in prison (without highlighting the possibility that he could sue the state when he gets out). Bobby Cumber's wife, Myra, has stood by him the entire time, although he has been in prison over twenty years, more than half their married life. The good news came while Sylvia was in Israel celebrating our cousin Riku's 90th birthday. She called Myra from Jerusalem. When Sylvia told where she was calling from, Myra Cumber who'd had her share of surprises in the last few days said flatly: "You're kidding." But kid you not, criminals and evil-doers of New Jersey -- as well as those opposed to the death penalty, falsely accused, or inappropriately sentenced -- Sylvia Orenstein is on the case.