One of My Saddest Days

Last Tuesday was one of the saddest days I've ever experienced as an attorney. My client died at the hands of the State of Mississippi, and it wasn't an execution. He died as a pre-trial detainee in a death-trap jail […]

Idaho Governor signs public defense commission bill into law

This article is republished with permission from the Sixth Amendment Center On March 26, 2014 Idaho Governor C.L. Butch Otter signed House Bill 542 into law creating the Idaho public defense commission. The bill generated overwhelming legislative support as it passed the House of […]

ESTABLISHING SUPPORTIVE PUBLIC DEFENSE COMMUNITY: WORKING TOGETHER AS A COMMUNITY TO RAISE THE BAR

Sometimes in our lives , We all have pain, We all have sorrow But if we are wise, We know that there's always tomorrow Lean on me when you're not strong and I'll be your friend I'll help you carry […]

6AC & PJI release issue paper on early appointment of counsel

The Pretrial Justice Institute and the Sixth Amendment Center jointly release a new report, Early Appointment of Counsel: The Law, Implementation, and Benefits, that concludes that the justice goals of the criminal court systems will be best served where every indigent defendant […]

Closing Arguments with Fred Friedman

Fred Friedman is the chief public defender for Minnesota’s 6th Judicial District (Duluth). The Minnesota Board of Public Defense is a state-funded, seven member commission whose members are appointed by the state supreme court (4) and the governor (3). The Board […]

You let the cop do what?

“He was walking out of the housing project and I went up to him to see what was up with him.”  So began the officer’s testimony early in my career in the Richmond, Kentucky Public Defender’s Office.  The testimony was […]

Small Steps Forward: My Newest Hero

Not all victories are marked by the glorious words, “not guilty.” There are other quieter, subtler victories. And buried among the cat videos, and viral defense attorney ads, there’s a YouTube video that celebrates the more frequent public defender victories. In a talk at […]

Playing Offense (on Defense)

Three years ago I went to a Saints game on Halloween (70,000 of us set the Guinness Record for largest costume party that night) and the game’s climax occurred when the Saints’ defense successfully stopped four attempts to score from […]

Rural Justice

Three weeks ago an uncommon tragedy happened in the two-road, no-stoplight town in west Texas where I live. Two longtime, much-loved friends shut down the bar together sometime after midnight on Monday night and by Tuesday morning one was dead […]

Public defenders know it could hurt them but they do it anyway

My first job at Kentucky DPA was as a law clerk for a small post-conviction unit in the central office in 1976.  I worked for a time for a man named Ernesto Scorsone.  Ernesto moved on to be a public defender in […]