Legalize Drugs: Divert Addiction out of Criminal Court

I was recently given the opportunity to present at Yale Bioethics Center's Summer Symposium for Returning Students. I've left much of my formal studying in Bioethics and public health behind me, but I do often find intersections between health and […]

Suppressing Criminal Evidence – A Review

Suppressing Criminal Evidence, a new publication from James Publishing, is a massive endeavor of Deja Vishny, longtime Wisconsin State Public Defender. Anyone who has attended a national criminal defense seminar knows the name of Ms. Vishny and now her new […]

“Exoneration Act” Unfairly Puts Burden on the Innocent

When I was assigned Mr. Madden’s appeal, even without knowing much about the law involved in the issue, it seemed pretty clear to me that the State had to return the money it had taken from him as a result […]

The Parable of the Sower: Why We Can’t Kill Dylann Roof

Once, according to the book of Matthew, Jesus stood in a boat and spoke to a crowd of people who had gathered on the shore. He told them of a farmer, a sower, who had gone to plant seeds. “As […]

Inauguration Day

The morning after the election, I had a familiar feeling as I walked into the courthouse. It took me a while to figure out what it was but I finally did. It was the feeling you have after losing a […]

Letter to a Public Interest Lawyer

Listening to the current conversation about criminal justice reform, the public defender can easily feel like an “Alice in Wonderland” type character, who fell through the rabbit hole, into a fantasy world that makes little sense.  Prosecutors and police, whose […]

Public Defense Deep in the Heart of Texas’ Death Penalty Country

I first became a public defender in 1976 as a law clerk and 1977 as a lawyer.  My first job was as an appellate lawyer.  Because we were a new system and all of the trial work was being done […]

Let’s Address Illegal Disproportionality in the Criminal Justice System

Reflections on Martin Luther King Jr.’s values, witness and leadership on many human rights issues are done from different points of view. Some celebrate the progress made as a result of Dr. King’s mobilizing people of good will to work […]

The Knock at the Door

This article was written by Yasmin Davis on behalf of the Legal Aid Society, CDP Training Unit. The Taryn Blume indictment was remarkable.  As defenders,  we all have received or are familiar with a colleague getting a phone call from […]

Connecticut Rules on 4th Amendment

In April 2016, the Connecticut Supreme Court was asked whether police should be permitted to use a drug-sniffing dog to roam the hallways of an apartment or condominium complex to search for contraband without getting a warrant from a judge. […]