Man Acquitted in Mission Machete Attack

A homeless man accused of swinging a machete at a convenience store clerk was acquitted by a jury after witness accounts fell apart at trial, San Francisco Public Defender Jeff Adachi announced on Monday, April 18th.  Jurors deliberated one day […]

What is Success for a Public Defender?

I have a confession. That phrase, “I walked him,” sometimes used by public defenders after an acquittal, is like nails on a chalkboard to me. Even hearing lawyers say, “I won,” after a not guilty verdict, makes me cringe. I […]

Not Your Father’s Public Defender

This content was originally published in the 2015 NAPD Annual Report. Stephen Hanlon co-chairs the NAPD Workloads Committee and is NAPD's General Counsel. Photo credit goes to Travis Spalding with The Advocate. A public defender organization that has: (1) completed […]

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This content was orginally published in the introduction of the 2015 NAPD Annual Report.  Public defense is an all-day, every-day mission. The National Association for Public Defense (NAPD) does nothing else – all day, every day: public defense. Ours is […]

Fighting the Systemic Shakedown of Poor People

This content was originally published as part of the 2015 NAPD Annual Report. Janene McCabe co-chairs NAPD's Fines & Fees Committee. The accompanying photo was provided by Katie D'Adamo, Assistant Public Defender, Maryland Office of the Public Defender. Imagine more […]

Veal v. State Creates Reasons for Hope

Georgia inmates once awaiting death in prison for offenses committed in their youths have reason to hope. The Supreme Court of Georgia announced this month in Veal v. State that those inmates—who were sentenced to life without the possibility of parole (LWOP) […]

The Rise of Criminal Court User Fees in North Carolina (Part 1): All the Justice Money Can Buy

This article was co-written with Kevin Murtagh, 3L, Wake Forest University School of Law. “How am I supposed to pay that?”  That’s a typical refrain heard from indigent criminal defendants in Public Defender offices across the State in response to their […]

The Rise of Criminal Court User Fees in North Carolina Part 2: Paying for the Cage

This article was co-written with Kevin Murtagh, 3L, Wake Forest University School of Law. "[F]or anyone that has money they know the first rule is to use other people's money."[1] Kanye West The United States has less than 5|PERCENT| of the […]

FPP Preview

Hey NAPD community!  I'd like to introduce you to a brand new initiative brought to you by Harvard Law School's Charles Hamilton Houston for Race & Justice and its Criminal Justice Institute called the Fair Punishment Project (FPP). The Project will work […]

Where We Stand

This content was originally published in the introduction to the 2015 NAPD Annual Report. NAPD grew out of a series of conversations that began in a room in Dayton, Ohio, in 2013.  We were 40 public defense advocates, each committed to […]