Public Defenders Can Lead the Client-Centered Movement

I went into the office one bright, sunny Sunday morning in December—a scene every public defense lawyer has played out hundreds of times.  Going in over the weekend to catch up on work because of overwhelming caseloads, exacerbated by the […]

The Crucial Element of Criminal Justice Reform That Nobody Is Talking About

Reprinted with permission from the author from TalkPoverty.org Brendan Dassey, a 16-year-old with a developmental disability, was accused of rape and murder. The police exploited his cognitive limitations to secure an unreliable confession. Prosecutors took advantage of his vulnerability to engineer […]

Defending Democracy: Celebrating Suppression on Presidents’ Day

On this day when we honor the former chiefs of our executive branch of government, it’s fitting to reflect on our role in the checks and balances that keep executive power from getting out of hand. The suppression motions we […]

Unwitting Getaway Driver Acquitted of Robbery

On Tuesday February 9th, San Francisco Public Defender Jeff Adachi was joined by Karen Jo Koonan, National Jury Project and private defense attorneys to speak out against Gov. Jerry Brown’s plan to slash the number of peremptory challenges in misdemeanor […]

Evan Griffith Will be Banquet Speaker at Managers’ & Supervisors’ Institute

Evan Griffith was born in Belize and immigrated to the United States when he was seven years old. Traveling with his older sister, he was the last of his large family to make the trip. The family settled into a […]

Testimony from Beyond Grave Saves Man from Life in Prison

This blog post was originally publiched as a prss released on January 29, 2016. A San Francisco father facing life in prison for a violent robbery was acquitted Thursday after testimony revealed another man admitted to the crime shortly before […]

Testimony from Beyond the Grave Saves Man from Life in Prison

This blog post was originally publiched as a press release on January 29, 2016. A San Francisco father facing life in prison for a violent robbery was acquitted Thursday after testimony revealed another man admitted to the crime shortly before […]

The Case for (Meaningful) Community Service

About six months ago, I adopted a dog from the local Animal Shelter. As it goes, I just couldn’t resist volunteering for the local “Friends of the Shelter” group, who are trying to change organizational culture, navigate inane city and […]

Defenders are the answer, but where are they?

Several weeks ago my NAPD blog post tried to give the Orange County Public Defender’s Office due credit for illuminating 30 years of collusion and deception by the Orange County Sheriff’s Office and District Attorney’s Office in a snitching scandal […]

Making a Murderer: Changing the Conversation

Did he do it? That’s the question being debated all over the country as hundreds of thousands of people watch Making a Murderer, question what happened in Manitowoc, Wisconsin, and sign petitions supporting pardons or new trials for Steven Avery […]