What Does Science Say: How much do public defenders know about the reliability of child witnesses?

Take home message: This new research shows public defenders in a South-Eastern state have better knowledge of the science on child witness reliability than jury-eligible laypeople (a sample of college students) but not as good as forensic psychologists. Defenders should consider […]

Law 4 Black Lives: A Letter from the Planning Committee

This past winter, Natasha McKenna of Virginia was killed at the hands of correctional and police officers in a Fairfax County jail. In the spring, Mya Hall, a transgender Black woman, was gunned down by Baltimore police shortly before the […]

When 99% of All Arrested Children Are Black: A Case for Police Diversion

A child is stopped by the police for a minor infraction, such as petty vandalism.  National statistics show that, if the child is African-American, he will likely see the inside of a squad car, a jail cell, and a courtroom.  If […]

Representation by Counsel of Access to Resources: Utah’s Single Source Approach to Indigent Defense

The article below was published on July 16, 2015 in the Washington & Lee Law Review online (Volume 72, Issue 1, Article 3).  The State of Utah has a unique way of providing representation in criminal cases to defendants who […]

The Day The President Went To Prison

I had been sworn in as a lawyer in October 1977.  In the late summer of 1978, Ed Monahan and I were appointed to represent one of the first persons sentenced to death in Kentucky after Gregg v. Georgia.  Soon thereafter, I went […]

The Furnace

I read the 5th Circuit Court of Appeals ruling in regard to air-conditioning for death-row inmates at Louisiana State Penitentiary with bewilderment.  The Court agreed that the extreme temperatures constitute cruel and unusual punishment, but overturned a previous ruling by a […]

A Small Thing

On May 12, 2014, Judge Cathy Prewitt, a district judge in southern Kentucky, set a bond for one Stephen Hinkle.  The bond was set at $25,000.  It was a minor act of judicial discretion.  She does this all this time. Later that day, […]

Is Leadership Dead?

“American government and business are suffering from a near breakdown in their capacity creatively and collaboratively to effect policies to address the most pressing of the nation’s problems.  Levels of trust in and approval of leaders are at all-time lows.”  So writes […]

When Trial Swagger Turns to Plea Shuffle

When the day started, I had swagger. I strutted into court salivating over the prospect of cross examining the witnesses. There had been a prior civil proceeding, where my co-counsel got the arresting officer to agree with our theory of […]

2015 SJDC Summit Focuses on Addressing Race in Advocacy

On June 5-6, the City of New Orleans played host to a group of 70 juvenile defenders from around the Gulf Coast and southern Atlantic seaboard at the 4th annual Southern Juvenile Defender Center Summit. The focus of the summit this […]