Something’s Got to Change

On Friday morning, I picked up my Lexington Herald-Leader and opened up the sports section first, as I often do as a serious Cardinal baseball fan. A short article in the “briefs” section caught my eye.  It read in part, […]

Race Judicata Update

NC Public Defender Commission on Racial Equity (NC PDCORE) is a committee of the North Carolina Public Defender Association. The mission of NC PDCORE is to reduce and ultimately eliminate racial and ethnic disparities in the criminal justice system through […]

NAPD Offers Public Comment to DOJ re Forensic Science

The National Association for Public Defense is an organization of over 15,000 public defense professionals, almost all of whom are currently active in courtrooms around the country.  Our membership includes over 110 organizations large and small, with members from every […]

Of Public Defense and Parenting

As I eagerly await the birth of my first child (due to make her debut in the next 4-6 weeks), I often day dream about what life would be like if she followed in my foot steps and became a […]

The War on Drugs: A War on Common Sense, Racial and Social Justice, and Coexistence

In 1998 Rachael Leigh Cook was featured in the This Is Your Brain on Drugs TV ad for the Partnership for a Drug Free America.  That ad was truly shocking, driving home the destruction of families and lives due to […]

Court fines and fees: Another barrier to North Carolina’s ballot box

This post originally appeared on ncpolicywatch.com  How much money do you have to pay before you cast your ballot on Election Day? For most North Carolinians, the answer might seem obvious: none. As the cornerstone of our democracy, voting is supposed […]

Dear Mom

Dear Mom,   Yep, I had it together this year and had a card in the mail to you last week, but there’s always more to say. Here’s a bit of it…   Happy Mother’s Day. Geez, thank you. Thank […]

Never Give Up On People

I don't think anyone ever had the nerve to ask her "how she felt" about my work. She was a woman of strong opinions. Anyway, I think that who we are almost always reflects some aspect of how we were-or […]

Mothers and Public Defenders

My mother was my first role model, and still the person that I turn to when I need advice in both my professional and personal life! When people ask her about how she feels about my career as a public […]

Public Defender Podcast

I often lament how infrequently public defenders get to talk about their work and their clients and the cause of justice. I dream up campaigns that if funded would put so many of our public defender heroes into newspaper articles, […]