Story about overworked public defender is winner of ABA Journal/Ross Writing Contest

A federal law clerk in Wilmington, North Carolina, has won the 2018 ABA Journal/Ross Writing Contest for Legal Short Fiction for her story about an overworked federal public defender who represents a man on a drug charge that could get him 10 to 40 years in prison. Lisa Taylor is…

Aug 3, 2018 12:08 PM CDT

Letters August 2018

Aug 1, 2018 12:35 AM CDT

Text-message reminders are a cheap and effective way to reduce pretrial detention

With just a couple of dollars, courts and public defenders can keep people from being arrested.

Court date reminders sent to defendants via text message are an inexpensive, simple intervention being tested across the country.

Jul 17, 2018 7:10 AM CDT

Iowa Supreme Court says alleged sex harassment by former county attorney didn’t merit ouster

An elected prosecutor in southeast Iowa says he will be back on the job after the state’s Supreme Court ruled 4-3 that alleged sexual harassment didn’t qualify as willful misconduct meriting removal from office under state law. Former Van Buren County Attorney Abraham Watkins apologized for his behavior at a…

Jul 12, 2018 7:10 AM CDT

The Chicago police legacy of extracting false confessions is costing the city millions

Of the 29 wrongful conviction rulings involving false confessions in the United States in 2017, 13 were in Cook County. Of the more than 260 false confession cases since 1989, about 25 percent have come from Cook County.

Jul 1, 2018 12:15 AM CDT

This city may have the first criminal justice system to be led entirely by black women

The city of South Fulton, Georgia, has a municipal court system that is led entirely by black women, but it wasn’t part of any kind of master plan, according to Chief Judge Tiffany Carter Sellers.

Jun 26, 2018 7:00 AM CDT

More than 150 deputy public defenders protest appointment of chief they believe is unqualified

Pitting themselves against the government agency that oversees their office, a group more than 150 Los Angeles County public defenders staged a protest Monday against their new interim chief.

Feb 13, 2018 1:38 PM CST

Public defender in California resigns after suit challenged his qualifications

The public defender in Humboldt County, California, has resigned after a lawsuit challenged his qualifications for office. David Marcus resigned Nov. 22 after nine months on the job, report the Times Standard and the North Coast News Journal. The lawyer who filed the suit, Patrik Griego, will drop the case,…

Nov 29, 2017 4:26 PM CST

Judge orders inmates with history of masturbation or other sexual misconduct to wear cuffs in court

Detainees in Cook County, Illinois, who have a history of masturbation, indecent exposure or other sexual misconduct will have to wear handcuffs during courthouse visits, a federal judge has ruled. U.S. District Judge Matthew Kennelly of Chicago issued preliminary injunctions on Tuesday, report the Chicago Tribune and the Chicago Sun-Times.…

Nov 29, 2017 3:10 PM CST

About 100 public defenders protest outside courthouse after ICE arrest; lawyer tells of ‘chaos’

About 100 public defenders staged a protest Tuesday outside the criminal courthouse in Brooklyn, New York, after agents with Immigration and Customs Enforcement arrested a defendant who was in court for a domestic violence charge. The defendant’s lawyer, Rebecca Kavanagh, told the Village Voice that court officers assisting in the…

Nov 29, 2017 9:58 AM CST

Female Chicago-area public defenders file equal-protection suit over masturbating inmates

Six Chicago-area assistant public defenders have filed a federal civil rights lawsuit that claims they have been subjected to a hostile work environment as a result of inmates who masturbate in front of them at the jail and courtroom lockups in Cook County. The would-be class action alleges violations of…

Nov 9, 2017 10:57 AM CST

ACLU sues Nevada, alleging constitutionally inadequate indigent defense system

The ACLU of Nevada has sued the state, alleging that indigent defense in rural counties is so inadequate—and so poorly overseen by state authorities—that the defense provided is insufficient under the Sixth Amendment. According to the Las Vegas Review-Journal, the ACLU’s complaint focuses specifically on rural counties where indigent defense…

Nov 7, 2017 2:30 PM CST

Pentagon defers contempt sentence of chief defense counsel in Guantanamo defense ‘revolt’

A Pentagon official has deferred the contempt-of-court sentence of Marine Brig. Gen. John Baker, the lead defense counsel in the case of a Guantanamo Bay detainee that caused a revolt by defense lawyers. According to McClatchy, Baker had been sentenced to 21 days of confinement to quarters—in Guantanamo, a trailer—after…

Nov 3, 2017 6:23 PM CDT

Chief defense lawyer for Gitmo military commissions is sentenced for contempt

A Guantanamo judge has imposed a contempt sentence of 21 days’ confinement on the Marine general who is chief defense counsel for the military commissions there. The judge, Air Force Col. Vance Spath, found Marine Brig. Gen. John Baker in contempt for disobeying his orders in the case of a…

Nov 2, 2017 8:00 AM CDT

Public defenders are fed up with masturbating inmates, chief PD says

Public defenders in Cook County, Illinois, won’t be visiting courtroom lockups in Chicago until the sheriff does something about masturbating inmates. Public Defender Amy Campanelli issued a memo on Tuesday that banned the lockup visits, WBEZ reports. She cited two recent incidents in which inmates with pending public indecency cases…

Nov 2, 2017 7:00 AM CDT