Ed Monahan Retires as Kentucky Public Advocate

Ed Monahan, Ketucky Public Advocate (retired) Ed has always been there.  I was a 3L at the University of Kentucky in the fall of 1976, being a “visiting student” from Washington University School of Law.  I had decided to be […]

Defender Association Advocates for Investigation to be Launched Within the Philadelphia Police Department’s Narcotics Bureau

This blog post was originally released as a press statement of the Defender Association of Philadelphia on September 8, 2017. In light of recent coverage by The Philadelphia Inquirer and The Philadelphia Tribune regarding the allegations by African American police […]

Protests and the Public Defender

This blog was co-authored by Toussaint Romain, public defender in Mecklenburg County (Charlotte), North Carolina. When a protest is in the offing in your community, a wise public defender already has a plan in mind for what to do about […]

Are You on Facebook?

Mobile devices, emails, Instagram, twitter.  Not only that, but you are expected to check your devices at night and on weekends.   It’s all enough to drive you crazy.  We already know that we are far too distracted already.  So why […]

Public Defender Statement on DACA

This blog post was originally published as a Press Release of the San Francisco Public Defender's Office on September 4, 2017.   San Francisco Public Defender Jeff Adachi today issued the following statement on the Trump Administration’s efforts to end […]

Always Have Third Thing You Must

6 o’clock already? I quickly save the file I’m working on, scribble a Post-it to remind myself to call my client’s mom, grab my backpack and head out the door. My dedicated fellow defenders continue to type furiously, answer calls, […]

Lavender, Liberty and Lemonade

My name is Hannah Ibañez, and I’m an Assistant Public Defender and Activist living in St. Petersburg, Florida. I was born in Northern Ireland to a British mother and Afro-Cuban father, later raised in Miami, and educated in Boston. My […]

Case Refusal: A Right for the Public Defender but not a Remedy for the Defendant

This essay was originally published by the Washington University Law Review. Various arguments have been made to explain why public defenders continue to handle excessive caseloads: a lack of independence, organizational culture, or ethical blindness among them. All of these […]

Aider and Abettor Podcast: Episode 10

In the 10th episode of Aider and Abettor, Avi and Sajid welcome guests Raj Jayadev and Charisse Domingo of Silicon Valley De-Bug (https://siliconvalleydebug.org), a community organization in San Jose focused on storytelling and advocacy for the marginalized and criminal justice […]

Police Violence in a Democracy

“Cop culture” values have become as much of a part of the nation’s psyche as baseball has become our national pastime.   “Cop Culture” is defined as attitudes and behavior prevalent among the police force, often characterized by solidarity and resistance […]