The NAPD Fund for Justice Launched to Help Public Defenders and Public Defense Organizations across the Nation

(Lexington KY October 8, 2018)   — The NAPD Fund for Justice has been started by a group of national leaders in order to advance the right to counsel and public defense in the United States. The NAPD Fund for Justice is […]

Should Indigent Defense Providers Care About Workload Studies?

In August of 2014, I skeptically attended a workload study conference put on by the National Association for Public Defense in Frankfort, KY.  I was skeptical, not because the conference was about workload studies, but because it was about the […]

Me too?

“IT STARTS WITH BELIEVING,” blares a poster advertising the services of a Sex-Assault Nurse Examiner. My colleague and I snort. Technically, SANE’s are supposed to be evidence-collectors, and nothing more. They aren’t supposed to take sides in whether or not […]

Freedom For Sale

Constructed in 1973, the New Guilford County courthouse has been showing its age for the better part of the past two decades.  Like many buildings from this era, the facade is a harsh block of colorless stone with slits inserted […]

Called Out for Client Centered Representation; Please Do So Again

Recently, our office was called out by the prosecution in an appellate brief for our office’s philosophy of client centered representation and, why, in the opinion of that prosecutor, client centeredness was not the proper representation basis for our office.  […]

Aider & A better Podcast “Gag Order” Now Available

The latest episode of @aiderandabettor titled "Gag Order" is now available on #applepodcasts, #itunes and #soundcloud!  Avi returned from paternity leave to join me for a discussion about a Cleveland, Ohio Judge, John Russo, and his decision to duct tape the mouth of Franklyn […]

Enemies Within

It’s hard to pick who the worst Roman emperor was, but Nero is definitely in the running. Aside from maybe fiddling while the great city burned, killing his mother, and castrating a slave who bore a passing resemblance to his […]

This is a Must Read: Tell the Client’s Story (Edward Monahan and James Clark, editors)

(A shorter version of this review ran in The Champion September 2017). Gregg v. Georgia was one of several cases that came down from the Supreme Court on July 2, 1976, reinstituting the death penalty in the US.   Kentucky responded […]

National Public Defenders Summit Directives Document Now Available

Public defenders from around the country convened in Denver this spring for the first of its kind event to build consensus for policy and practice reforms.  Top defenders from 21 states and the District of Columbia met for two days […]

What we do and the way we do it define us

The inherent dignity of every human, the fair and humane treatment of others are the core of the American ideal and are central tenets of all moral codes. Our responsibility is to apply these values to all that we do […]