The Price of Being Indigent and Accused Lynn O. Rosenstock

Class Action Lawsuit Filed in Calcasieu Parish, Louisiana Catherine V. Beane

Bar Association Report Calls for Statewide Defense System in Louisiana Malia Brink

Indigent Defense: Louisiana From The Ground . . . Up Malia Brink

New Report Condemns Indigent Defense System In New Orleans Malia Brink

According to NACDL’s recent report surveying the various methods utilized by states to determine when an individual is indigent and entitled to appointed counsel, a majority of the states look to the Federal Poverty Guidelines (FPG) to find out whether a defendant qualifies for court-appointed counsel. On the surface, it would seem that this might be an objective yardstick of indigence, but in practice it proves to be prone to manipulation in myriad ways.

An Internet meme recently passed around by public defenders shows six panels with different photos and captions. The title “Public Defender” appears in large letters above the six panels. The first panel shows a huge high-capacity monster dump truck with this caption: “What my clients think I do.” The next panel — showing a gang of gun-wielding people who seem to be kidnapping a judge — is accompanied by this caption: “What prosecutors think I do.”

The National Association of Federal Defenders bestowed its W. Fred Turner Award on Leigh Skipper, Chief Federal Defender for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania, and his staff at the Federal Community Defender Office in Philadelphia.

Assistant public defenders have it really tough in the trial courtrooms. These lawyers are typically assigned to large caseloads in which surprises can arise at any time, even when meeting the client for the first time. First meetings can be very tense, and a lawyer must possess the required skills to resolve the tension and seek a favorable solution for the client.

Indigent Defense Lory Diana Rosenberg

There is no question – racial and ethnic disparities abound in our criminal justice system. Racial bias, both conscious and unconscious, results in more people of color being stopped, arrested, convicted and imprisoned than ever before. Criminal defense lawyers and public defenders are not immune to bias and, of all people in the system, should be aware of their biases and keep them in check.

During this webinar, we discuss representing clients with intellectual and/or developmental disability (I/DD). Topics include an overview of disability culture, how to identify potential disability, communication with people with disabilities, and the various pitfalls in the criminal justice system where those with I/DD in particular can get lost in the system. We also provide an overview of attorney obligations under the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) and how attorneys can accommodate their clients with disabilities before, during, and after a trial or plea negotiation.

Silicon Valley De-Bug’s Albert Cobarrubias Justice Project has developed an approach for clients, their families, and their communities to partner with public defender offices to change the outcome of cases and policies that govern the local criminal justice system. Raj Jayadev shares the model called “participatory defense” and ways defender offices could employ the approach locally with their communities.

This webinar provides a medical primer about the current state of medicine with regard to HIV research and treatment. This primer is be coupled with a discussion on how to use medical research to develop defenses, present the court with mitigation, negotiate favorable pleas for clients, and litigate constitutional, evidentiary, and discovery issues. There is also a section exploring the ethical issues that attorneys must grapple with when handling these cases.

The Myth of Colorblind Justice presented by L. Song Richardson, Professor of Law, University of California, Irvine

Race Matters I: The Impact of Race on Criminal Justice
September 14-15, 2017 | Detroit, MI