Participatory Defense in the Media

July 2017

“It may seem obvious for a lawyer to use family members’ insights in building a client’s defense. But public defenders typically don’t, thanks to large and time-consuming caseloads that preclude that kind of nitty-gritty work. A model of community organizing called participatory defense seeks to compensate for that deficiency—by training non-lawyers on how to be effective advocates for their loved ones.”

The Atlantic / Read Full Article

June 2015

“The essential agents of change don’t have to be lawyers or judges. Our meetings are facilitated by people who first came for help on their own cases or the cases of loved ones, volunteers who have transformed from isolated mothers watching their sons get chewed up by the courts to vocal navigators for other families.”

Time/Zócalo Public Square / Read Full Article

May 2015

“About 80 percent of defendants in criminal cases are assigned public defenders, who are overwhelmed and underfunded; in some locations, they have less than 10 minutes on average to spend with clients. At the same time, the people who know defendants best, and care about them most, are often the most marginalized voices in the process.”

The New York Times / Read Full Article