The Times They Are A Changin’

In the 1990s I tried a murder case in which it was alleged that my client had caused the death of his four month old child by shaking her.  The injuries were attributed to "Shaken Baby Syndrome."  There was insufficient […]

Coming to Terms with Stress

Overwhelmed with sadness, confusion, and suppressed rage, I began to see a therapist. I dreaded each weekly appointment, because it meant that I’d have to confront the things I was avoiding. Nonetheless, once a week I dragged myself to the […]

NAPD Letter to Commissioners re Termination of Houston County Public Defender

Dear Commissioners, We are the National Association for Public Defense (NAPD).  We are an association of more than 14,000 public defenders and public defense professionals, including the staff of over 100 organizations from around the nation.  Our purpose is to […]

See something? Say something

Shortly after word got out that Brendan Dassey, one of the main subjects from the Netflix hit series “Making a Murderer,”  got his conviction overturned , the following tweet (by @JuddLegum) appeared in my feed:   “Convictions of Brendan Dassey […]

Two Courageous Defenders

Attorney ethics require a chief defender to have the backs of their defenders when it comes to excessive workloads.  The Ten Principles, the ABA Formal Opinion 06-441, and the Eight Guidelines all make it quite clear that the chief defender has discrete obligations […]

Muslim Woman Arrested and Charged for Observing Her Religion on Independence Day

In the category of “you can’t make this stuff up”, a Muslim woman in Chicago was arrested on her way to take the train after a day of shopping for food.  On July 4, 2015, Itemad “Angel” Almatar was running […]

4,400 Fines and Fees Warrants Dismissed in One Municipality

Ending debtors prisons in Colorado continues to be a battle, but help from the legislature has already had an impact.  Aurora CO municipal court released a statement saying they were dismissing 4400 failure to pay fines and fees warrants to […]

Fearlessness and Humility in Capital Defense

Public defenders are usually good trial lawyers.  They have learned how to investigate.  They have learned how to challenge the State’s case.  They know how to find the resources that they need.  They are up-to-date on the law.  They’re good storytellers.  These skills and work habits […]

Another Letter to Governor Nixon

Seven years ago, your office vetoed Senate Committee Substitute for Senate Bill No. 37, which would have provided caseload relief to an overburdened public defender system. In denying that relief, you acknowledged that MSPD was operating “under significant stresses” and […]

Hypersegregation and the St. Louis Municipal Courts

FULL DISCLOSURE I was born in St. Louis, Missouri in 1941, grew up there, went to school there until 1963 – 1966 when I attended the University of  Missouri School of Law, and worked there until 1974 when my family and I left St. Louis for the next 40 years. During that 40-year span, I did a wide variety of civil trial litigation, including a lot of civil rights and constitutional litigation, mostly in Florida and across the South. I returned to St. Louis in 2014 to teach at the St. Louis University School of Law Clinic ("SLU Law") as a Professor of Practice. I worked with the remarkable clinical professors there, including the legendary professor John Ammann and his counterpart Brendan Roediger, both of whom — together with Thomas Harvey, a 2009 SLU Law school graduate and co-founder of ArchCity Defenders ("ACD") — would play a large role in challenging the entire legal establishment in St. Louis, including the courts and the bar, many of whom were SLU Law school graduates, in the litigation and public advocacy that followed in the immediate aftermath of the killing of Michael Brown by a Ferguson police officer on August 9, 2014. SLU LAW AND ACD BEFORE […]