“Tough” Sentences Won’t Deter Crime

How frequently have we heard a judge say to a defendant on the day of sentencing, “I’m sending you to prison because I want to send a message that we won’t tolerate this kind of behavior?” The “message” is supposed […]

Be Careful Out There

“You mean I could knock you out right now and get away with it?”  He stood close to me, fist in my face, menacing.  We were in an isolated part of a rural jail.  It would take several minutes for anyone to hear […]

Language Impairments. Such A Bland Name For Something So Devastating

I found out about language impairments almost by accident.  I was talking with staff at Mendota Juvenile Treatment Center in Madison, Wisconsin and they happened to mention that the adolescents they worked with (ages 13-19, adjudicated delinquent and committed to juvenile […]

These Two Storytelling Websites Will Revolutionize Your Trial Practice

So you’ve created that tabs for your trial binder. You’ve printed out cases relevant to every evidentiary hurdle possible. Now you’re stuck on how to tell the story. The left brain is pumped up and the right brain is limply […]

Walking the Walk

When I first visited the NAPD website, I have to confess that I was startled by its brazen language. "Movement", "Resistance", "Solidarity," and "Revolution" have been words banished from my public lexicon these past six years that I spent trying […]

Racial Discrimination & Whack-a-mole

At best, many Americans – particularly those in decision-making positions in death penalty jurisdictions across this country – are uncomfortable when it comes to talking about race. Study after study reveals that Americans strive for colorblindness as a cure for racism and bigotry.  And a […]

Gideon’s Orchestra: It Is Time For the Encore

 I was recently asked to contribute a piece to a law journal in commemoration of Anthony Lewis, the author of Gideon’s Trumpet. Lewis’ book rightfully cast the public defender as the hero of American criminal justice.  In it, Clarence Earl […]

Pretrial Justice: Reframing the Picture

A picture is worth a thousand words. True, but only to the extent that the viewer sees what the photographer intends. Stories, too are constrained by the way in which they’re told; the lens that is used. They can convey […]

No More “This is the Way We Have Always Done It”

Too often we see injustice – a child is shackled, a person is summarily thrown in jail because they did not pay court costs, or a court denies a person a lawyer because they own a run-down Chevy van worth […]

10 Top Things I always wanted to say at a judge’s conference

I was Public Advocate in Kentucky for 12 years, and a public defender for over 31 years (actually, still am, at least in my mind). For the past 29 years, I have been a member of the Kentucky Association of […]