New Social Work Evaluation Resources on MyGideon

I developed an interest in social work practice within public defense systems when I completed a year-long field placement at the Knox County Public Defender’s Community Law Office (CLO) as an undergraduate social work student. I went on to other […]

Staff Picks – A Top Ten List of Movies Public Defenders Should Watch

This list was compiled by Heather H. Hall, Ernie Lewis and Amanda A. Thibeaux. Note that it is quite intentionally "a” Top Ten list, not “the” Top Ten list. Additions and edits welcome! Don't yell at us too much! Hahaha…. […]

Diane Courselle: In Remembrance

Greetings from here in Wyoming, the state with the most awesome public defender agency and only one law school. (Those may be fighting words to some of you. I’ll stick by them. We are pretty darn awesome here.) It’s the […]

Bad Guys: When the Presumption of Innocence Becomes a Joke

So you’ve been accused of a crime. Maybe you’re completely innocent. Or guilty as sin. Either way, buckle up, because the well-worn wheels are now in motion. This ride will strip you of your humanity in a thousand ways. Your reputation […]

Man Cleared of Stealing City Truck

A homeless man who was arrested for stealing a city maintenance truck was acquitted of all charges after a jury determined he was simply in the wrong place at the wrong time, San Francisco Public Defender Jeff Adachi announced today. […]

State Constitutional Challenges to Indigent Defense Systems

This piece was originally published by the Missouri Law Review, 75 Mo. L. Rev. 751 (2010). This excerpt is reprinted with permission and the entire article can be read HERE For many years, the primary vehicle that advocates used to protect the […]

I Can’t Be a Spectator

Republished with permission from Ask Allison Dear Allison, As an aging lawyer who still remembers when you could win dispositive motions and reverse and render cases on appeal, can you tell me what motivates young lawyers to go into criminal defense? Yours, […]

The Disconnected Juror: Smart Devices and Juries in the Digital Age of Litigation

This piece was originally published in the University of Notre Dame Law School Journal of Law, Ethics and Public Policy. You can access the Journal here. Is the modern-day trial attorney or trial judge aware of the effects of digital isolation […]

MacArthur Justice Center NAPD, and other National Associations File Amicus

This press release is co-written by NAPD and the Roderick and Solange MacArthur Justice Center at St. Louis. The nation’s three leading criminal defense associations and a premier non-profit civil rights law firm are urging the Eighth Circuit Court of […]

MacArthur Justice Center, NAPD, and other National Bar Associations Urge an End to Constructive Denial of Counsel in Capital Cases

This press release is co-written by NAPD and the Roderick and Solange MacArthur Justice Center at St. Louis. The nation’s three leading criminal defense associations and a premier non-profit civil rights law firm are urging the Eighth Circuit Court of […]