Public Defenders

Sept. 11 defense lawyer, winner of ABA Journal’s 2024 Ross Writing Contest, recognizes humanity of reviled clients

Updated: A former public defender who represents a detainee at Guantanamo Bay is the winner of the 2024 ABA Journal/Ross Writing Contest for Legal Short Fiction.

Jul 9, 2024 11:08 AM CDT

Assignment load for public defenders needs to decrease, says data-based study

With the RAND Corp., the National Center for State Courts and the ABA’s Standing Committee on Legal Aid and Indigent Defense, a new study was created that contains “reliable, data-based workload standards.” The 166-page National Public Defense Workload Study calls for a significant reduction in workloads for those who do criminal justice work in the public sector.

Jun 1, 2024 1:50 AM CDT

Biden recalls time he bluffed knowledge of torts case and why he changed his mind about civil-trial work

President Joe Biden digressed when answering questions last fall about documents stored at his vice presidential residence to remember his tough torts class at the Syracuse University College of Law and the first job that he got after graduation.

Mar 14, 2024 2:34 PM CDT

Judge’s hot tub social media post makes waves with judicial conduct commission; she quotes Cardi B in response

A Las Vegas judge is facing ethics charges partly for a social media photo of herself sporting a bikini while in a hot tub with public defenders. Judge Erika Ballou is facing a misconduct complaint filed by the Nevada Commission on Judicial Discipline.

Feb 1, 2024 11:42 AM CST

Want to clear a criminal record? This lawyer has an app for that

In 2022, lawyer Noella Sudbury launched an app called Rasa to provide a quick, cheap and easy solution for people who want a fresh start, automating the process of expungement from start to finish.

Jan 17, 2024 8:15 AM CST

Private criminal defense lawyers failed to show up for their cases more often than defendants, Philly study finds

Some lawyers are less reliable than defendants when it comes to showing up in court, according to a study of criminal cases in Philadelphia courts during a 10-year span.

Dec 6, 2023 4:12 PM CST

Public defender who defended cocaine use as sometimes beneficial should be suspended, disciplinary counsel says

A lawyer who displayed a “stunning void of evidence regarding any genuine pursuit of sobriety” should be suspended for using cocaine before his client’s hearing and defending it as sometimes helpful, according to a brief filed by the Pennsylvania Office of Disciplinary Counsel.

Dec 5, 2023 3:26 PM CST

Assistant public defender suspended after anti-Israel Marxist newspapers found in PD waiting room

An assistant public defender has been placed on paid leave because he was thought to be the person responsible for placement of Marxist newspapers with anti-Israel content in the waiting room of the public defender’s courthouse office in New Britain, Connecticut.

Nov 20, 2023 11:22 AM CST

PD resigns after video is said to show her tearing down posters of Hamas hostages

A lawyer who worked for New York County Defender Services has resigned after a viral video purportedly showed her tearing down posters displaying hostages held by Hamas.

Nov 9, 2023 3:02 PM CST

Mississippi isn’t following state supreme court’s new rule for protecting poor defendants, critics say

Three months after Mississippi’s Supreme Court directed judges in the state to ensure that poor criminal defendants always have a lawyer as they wait to be indicted, one of those justices acknowledged that the rule isn’t being widely followed.

Oct 20, 2023 9:17 AM CDT

How elimination of cash bail is working in Illinois after 1 month

The jail population is down in Cook County, Illinois, and pretrial detention hearings are getting longer throughout the state after a law eliminating cash bail took effect.

Oct 20, 2023 8:50 AM CDT

Meet Tanya Chutkan, the judge who won’t allow Trump to call special counsel ‘deranged’

A judge with a reputation for being “temperate but unflinching” imposed a partial gag order on former President Donald Trump on Monday. Judge Tanya Chutkan ruled that Trump can’t attack special counsel Jack Smith, his family, his staff and witnesses.

Oct 16, 2023 1:22 PM CDT

In ‘watershed moment,’ report recommends new guidelines for public defender caseloads

Many public defenders are “overloaded” with work, even when caseloads are evaluated under outdated guidelines drafted in 1973 that don't reflect modern-day realities, according to a new study released Tuesday.

Sep 13, 2023 2:24 PM CDT

Federal judge orders release of county’s unrepresented defendants, says problem is ‘complete tragedy’

A federal judge in Eugene, Oregon, has ruled that defendants held without lawyers for 10 days in Washington County, Oregon’s jail must be released from custody.

Aug 18, 2023 11:40 AM CDT

High-earning, court-appointed lawyer failed to provide ‘even a modicum of representation,’ suit alleges

When a Houston man was arrested on suspicion of driving while intoxicated in July 2018, he was “a happily married 65-year-old man.” By the time that his case was dismissed in February 2022, he had lost his home, his truck and his wife.

Aug 9, 2023 2:13 PM CDT