"Close to half of California’s 58 counties do not employ any full-time public defense investigators."
Anat Rubin for CalMatters: https://calmatters.org/investigation/2025/06/public-defense-investigators/
#Longreads #TrueCrime #California #PublicDefense #Investigation #Justice #Injustice #Legal #Law #SiskiyouCounty
a man whose wife was killed by a drunk driver slammed District Attorney Nathan Vasquez for ripping up a plea deal approved by his predecessor and imposing a tougher sentence.
“It just feels like performative cruelty,” said Lauran Parise, who was sitting in the passenger seat next to his wife, Jennifer Parise, two years ago when a drunk driver slammed into their sedan, killing her.
#pdx #portland #Oregon #pnw #orpol #nathanVasquez #publicDefense #sadism #cruelty #grief #farright #MAGA #GiftLink #giftArticle
Crusius said he saw video of that Trump rally and was motivated to act, Spencer said. In June 2019, a month after the Florida Trump rally, Crusius purchased a semiautomatic rifle online and had it delivered to a gun dealer in his hometown of Allen, Texas, near Dallas, according to court records.
#patrickCrusius #ElPaso #massShooter #MAGA #Trump #altRight #racism #fascism #publicdefense #nazi
I’ve got a feeling the idiotic bad effects that “Law & Order” has had on Public Defense in the USA will pale in comparison to those of the recent police bodycam YouTube “True Crime” content grifter fads. That shit is incredibly grim & deleterious.
#usPol #trueCrime #BodyWornCamera #bodycam #copaganda #youTube #spectacle #exploitation #content #contentCreators #publicdefender #publicDefense #exploreWithUs #Television #massIncarceration
https://www.opb.org/article/2025/02/05/oregon-public-defenders-crisis/
“Our district attorney’s office could take actions that would help with the public defense crisis,” Reding said. “In Multnomah County, our attorneys prepare a lot of cases for trial that turn into dismissals on the eve of trial. If our district attorney’s office could identify those cases that are dismissals much earlier in the process and dismiss them, that would save many hours of defense attorney time that we could then turn around and focus on taking new cases.”
Or y’know, just stop charging so much shit. Oregon’s well-fed prosecuting attorneys are operating in bad faith, and often on extremely flimsy charges.
#orPol #Oregon #PDX #publicDefense #publicDefender #uspol #nathanVasquez #Portland
In Multnomah County, the district attorney has unfairly demonized public defenders, blaming us for systemic failures beyond our control. The reality is that we stand as a check against government overreach, ensuring that justice is not necessarily swift, but fair.
#USPol #pdx #Portland #orpol #publicdefense #publicdefender #nathanvasquez #acab #PortlandPolice #portlandpolicebureau
A rigorous study by the American Bar Association which found that Oregon has 31% percent of the Public Defenders it needs has been overruled by a DA Clique's vibes-based assessment.
https://mstdn.social/@OregonLive/113833237470635340
#orpol #publicdefense #criminaljustice #nathanvasquez #farright #uspol #sadism #publicdefender #PublicDefenders #Oregon #pdx #Portland
Spent yesterday afternoon tracking down contact information for 12 courts across 5 counties and reaching out to responsible people to get information about their appointed counsel systems and how to apply.
Every step I take compiling this info feels bigger and bigger, but it's a project I wish someone would have taken on when I was a new attorney trying to figure this stuff out.
#PublicDefenders of Mastodon
A lot of us learned the ropes of our profession on our feet just making it up as we went along. What are the biggest things you wish you'd been taught before you had clients of your own? My own is client communication, and how to manage expectations.
I'm planning a training geared at bringing new lawyers into indigent defense next summer and looking at which topics are the most important to squeeze into a six-hour crash course.
Alright, step one completed. I now have a list of EVERY court that handles adult criminal cases in #Ohio to figure out how to get someone on their appointed lists.
That's a list of about 200 courts across 88 counties.
I have one volunteer so far who is handling 5 counties for me. Which takes about 12 of those 200 courts of the list.
How do you eat an elephant? One bite at a time.
Started a massive project at work this week. So many courts are hurting for people to serve as appointed counsel (and that turns into the problem of people charged with crimes who have no money)
So I'm planning a big training next summer to cover the basics of doing indigent defense.
On top of that, I'm making a manual of how to apply to be counsel in EVERY court in all 88 counties of #Ohio
Top lawyer for Oregon public defense slashed pay of ‘squeaky wheel’ female attorneys, investigator finds https://www.oregonlive.com/pacific-northwest-news/2024/08/top-lawyer-for-oregon-public-defense-slashed-pay-of-squeaky-wheel-female-attorneys-investigator-finds.html?gift=4786f646-d9f0-4cde-9810-63dcf776e633
re: https://mstdn.social/@OregonLive/112973324781852185
#giftlink #giftarticle #oregonian #OPDC #OPDS #retaliation #oregon #pdx #publicdefense #portland
NLG Know Your Rights reminder: Shut The Fuck Up https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nWEpW6KOZDs
#NLG #NationalLawyersGuild #stfu #shutTheFuckUp #MAGA #trump #fascism #nazis #acab #antifascist #law #PublicDefense #knowYourRights #uspol
Had a super interesting conversation about the links between trauma-informed story telling and my previous work as in #PublicDefense attorney in the #NYC #ChildWelfare system on the When Baring Witness #podcast. Also touched on my own parenting while #disabled. Check it out! https://open.spotify.com/episode/4bDS3RdScEyi6C2gR6kUat #FamilyPolice #race #disability #law #CivilRights #FamilyCourt #FosterCare #cps
tfw u convince the enchanted woodland lawyers to hire union investigators https://linktr.ee/investigatorsoregon
#DIO #InvestigatorsOregon #PublicDefense #Mitigation #JuvenileDefense #IWW #Oregon
“Designed to influence public opinion and electoral outcomes, Mr. Vasquez’s statement risks prejudicing potential proceedings and heightening public condemnation of an individual who has not been charged with the crimes mentioned,” Kaplan wrote. “Mr. Vasquez’s actions demonstrate a disregard for the ethical obligations that safeguard the fairness and impartiality of legal proceedings, essential tenets of the justice system he is sworn to serve.”
#pdx #portland #oregon #NathanVasquez #mikeschmidt #publicdefense
“Clearly, the district attorney only believes in the First Amendment rights of white supremacists, not the rights of people who look like me,” Williamson, who is Black, said. “I heard ‘Antifa’ so many times, but not 'Proud Boys,' or ‘American Guard’ or ‘Defend East County’ or any of these people who have threatened my life, my family’s life, who are known white supremacists.”
#antifa #sandiego #california #uspol #nazis #fascism #proudboys #maga #trump #kkk #lawfare #publicdefense #racism
Long-Awaited Investigation Into Gender Disparities in Public Defender Pay Finds “Considerable Inconsistency” https://www.wweek.com/news/courts/2024/02/07/long-awaited-investigation-into-gender-disparities-in-public-defender-pay-finds-considerable-inconsistency/
#Public #defense #systems across the country are overburdened and underfunded, but #Mississippi stands out. Nationally, it ranks last in how much money it spends #percapita on #publicdefense, according to the Sixth Amendment Center
#MississippiGoddam #CriminalInJustice #HumanRightsViolations #CriminalizingPoverty
"Mississippi Courts Won’t Say How They Provide Lawyers for Poor Clients
Six years ago, the Mississippi Supreme Court told judges around the state to file plans showing how they meet their obligations to poor defendants. So far, only one has."
