Aider & Abettor Podcast: Episode 20

The twentieth episode of Aider & Abettor is now up on #itunes and #soundcloud. Sajid talks with Alameda public defender Rachel Marshall. Rachel handles felony trials in Oakland, California. She has written articles about the sentence of Brock Turner and recall of Judge […]

Thoughts for Independence Day

I was a young lawyer for Kentucky DPA, hired as an appellate lawyer but tasked with going out to talk to the Jessamine County “Fiscal Court” (the equivalent of a county commission) about their public defense “system.”  This was in […]

Jose Padilla Deserves a Pardon

There is a spot on the wall of my office that visitors cannot easily see. When I sit at my desk, I can see it clearly. In that spot hangs small reminders that sometimes, just sometimes, the system gets it […]

Dogs in Court

To: A Local Private Practice Attorney CC: Your Wife Re: Dogs in Court   Yesterday, between settings, a prosecutor walked into court with a puppy she is training to be a service dog. I exclaimed over the tiny black lab, […]

Aider & Abettor Podcast Talks to Prosecutors

This episode is public defenders talking about prosecutors. Sajid, Avi and veteran public defender Michael Ogul talk about Philadelphia District Attorney Larry Krasner and his groundbreaking memo and discuss prosecutors and their role in creating and reducing mass incarceration. We […]

Bearcat Chapter of NAPD Adds Another SCOTUS Ruling to its Amicus Record

The National Association for Public Defense played an important role in expanding Fourth Amendment protections in the Supreme Court’s recent decision in Byrd v. United States. At issue was the Third Circuit’s holding that drivers of rental vehicles who are […]

Open Letter to so Many Friends, Supporters, Co-Workers and Others that Helped Me Keep Gideon’s Promise

In June of 1981, a young kid loaded up everything he owned in the back of a 1972 Buick Skylark and embarked on the journey that would define him as a person.  When I drove from Cincinnati to Denver that […]

One Label Too Many

Late one evening several years ago, I sat parked in my car on a residential street in midtown Memphis when nearly ten minutes later, two officers walked over, tapped on my driver side window, and questioned, “what’s going on here?” […]

Robin Steinberg Delivers Powerful TED Talk on Injustice of Money Bail

As many of you know, Robin Steinberg, founder of The Bronx Defenders, stepped down from her organization last year to launch The Bail Project, a new national bail fund and initiative to combat pretrial incarceration. Two weeks ago, Robin delivered […]

NAPD Assessment of the Texas Office of Capital and Forensic Writs Released

This blog post is co-released by Ed Monahan and Doug Wilson. The Texas Office of Capital and Forensic Writs (OCFW) http://www.ocw.texas.gov/ , the statewide public defender for capital post-conviction matters, is an organization of high value with good support from […]