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A PUBLIC DEFENDER’S PERSPECTIVE Mary F. Moriarty OJP Conference on Crime & Victimization May 27, 2016
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BOSTON MASSACRE
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JOHN ADAMS
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1770 Adams would later describe his role as “…the greatest service I ever rendered my country. Why? In a town where British soldiers were hated, there had been a fair trial by jury. In a land where mobs could sway events, the world saw that justice and liberty were valued as the legal rights of all!”
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INDIGENT DEFENSE CRISIS
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WHAT HAS JUSTICE LOOKED LIKE IN THIS COUNTRY?
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4,000 PEOPLE LYNCHED
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Scottsboro Boys - 1931
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LEGAL LYNCHING Nine black teens accused of raping two white women on a train in Alabama in 1931 March 25 – incident on train April 6, 7 – two teens tried in a day and a half and are convicted and sentenced to death April 9 – last trial ends in hung jury for 13 year old boy (11 jurors for death, one for life) Boys represented by real estate lawyer and an alcoholic who had not tried a case in years
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1956
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ANATOMY OF A MURDER (1959)
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To Kill a Mockingbird - 1962
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PERRY MASON (1957-66, 1973-74)
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GIDEON (1963)
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Gideon’s Petition
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United States Supreme Court
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March 18, 1963 Gideon v. Wainwright: The assistance of a lawyer for a defendant who could not afford to hire his or her own lawyer was a fundamental right under the United States Constitution
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August 5, 1963 A second trial The state of Florida paid for Mr. Gideon’s lawyer His lawyer questioned the eyewitness about inconsistencies The jury found Clarence Earl Gideon not guilty after one hour of deliberation
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STRICKLAND (1984) Entitled to a lawyer, but what kind of lawyer? An incompetent, but constitutionally protected lawyer reserved for poor people Two-Prong Test: Incompetent? Would competent lawyer have made a difference in the outcome?
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“In the criminal justice system, the people are represented by two separate, yet equally important groups; the police who investigate crime and the District Attorneys who prosecute the offenders.”
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Cameron Todd Willingham “There were no grounds for reversal, and the verdict was absolutely the right one… Shit, it’s incredible that anyone’s even thinking about it.” “Most of the time they’re guilty as sin” Court appointed lawyer in interview with Anderson Cooper
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Eddie Joe Lloyd “This is a sick individual who raped, kidnapped and strangled a young woman on her way to school. His claim of my wrongdoing is frivolous, just as is his existence. Both should be terminated” Mr. Lloyd’s appellate lawyer
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Eddie Joe Lloyd was mentally challenged His court appointed lawyer withdrew six days before trial His new lawyer did not ask for a continuance He was exonerated by DNA He was innocent
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New York Times (2014) The number of exonerations in the United States of those wrongly convicted of a crime increased to a record 87 during 2013, and of that number, nearly one in five had initially pleaded guilty to charges filed against them, according to a report to be released on Tuesday as part of a project led by two university law schools
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MASS INCARCERATION
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FACTS The US leads the world in incarceration (2.2 million people) More people incarcerated for drugs than there were people behind bars for any crime in 1980 1 in every 3 black males have a chance of serving time in prison during their lives White males have a 6% chance
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National events have made it possible to broaden the discussion from focusing solely on poorly funded indigent defense systems to systemic change. Public defenders must be part of that conversation
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FERGUSON
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ERIC GARNER
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FREDDIE GRAY
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WALTER SCOTT
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TAMIR RICE
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JAMAR CLARK
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But, for every person of color whose death comes at the hands of the police, thousands more are incarcerated every day on low level offenses.
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Racial Composition of Hennepin County
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Disposed of Cases by Race
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WAR ON DRUGS Police focus on street transactions in poor neighborhoods Legality of pretext stops “Consent” searches Forfeiture Mandatory minimums for drug offenses
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IMPLICIT BIAS TEST https://implicit.harvard.edu/implicit/
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Become an intelligent consumer of criminal justice information
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BOOKS The Warmth of Other Suns Slavery by Another Name The Short, Tragic Life of Robert Peace Just Mercy Freedom Summer Between the World and Me The New Jim Crow
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WEBSITES https://www.themarshallproject.org/ http://gideonspromise.org/ http://www.brennancenter.org/ http://www.innocenceproject.org/ https://www.schr.org/ http://www.sentencingproject.org
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“The dignity of the human spirit is that no person is as bad as the worst thing they’ve ever done.” -- Sister Helen Prejean
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ADVOCATE FOR CHANGE Bail Mandatory minimums Reinstate civil rights - voting Police training and accountability Alternatives to prison/jail - BHI Collateral consequences Question politicians
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TALENTED & PASSIONATE NEW LAWYERS
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MARY F. MORIARTY Hennepin County Public Defender’s Office (612) 348-8349 mary.moriarty@hennepin.us
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