What I’m learning is this: sometimes life asks us to carry more than one kind of weight at the same time. Grief in one hand. Illness in the other. And somehow, the work still expects you to show up—to advocate, to prepare, to stand in court with a steady voice even when your body and… Continue reading Carrying Both—When the Work Doesn’t Stop and Neither Does the Hurt
Catching Up to What Happened
I don’t have many words today. I’m moving through shock and trying to make sense of a week that shifted without warning. What I can say is this: sometimes life asks us to carry grief and responsibility at the same time. To show up in court, to answer emails, to lead, to parent — all… Continue reading Catching Up to What Happened
Permissions, Not Guarantees: 250 Years of Arrogance and Unfinished Justice
America turns 250 this year. A quarter of a millennium. And while the country rehearses its favorite story — freedom, progress, exceptionalism — I keep thinking about the people who will mark this anniversary from jail cells and prison bunks. People whose lives reveal the parts of America that never evolved, never repented, never made… Continue reading Permissions, Not Guarantees: 250 Years of Arrogance and Unfinished Justice
The Violence is the Point — And the Budget Proves It
Cason Helms was beaten to death earlier this month (June 2026) at the Elmore Correctional Facility in Alabama — the ninth person killed in an Alabama prison in as many months. The headlines will say "inmate-on-inmate violence," as if the state were a bystander. As if this were an unforeseeable tragedy instead of the predictable… Continue reading The Violence is the Point — And the Budget Proves It
A Case and a Crisis Are Not the Same Thing: What Happened When a Courtroom Stopped to Listen
It was supposed to be a routine plea. I was standing in line waiting to approach the bench when another lawyer stepped up with her client to enter a plea on a theft case. The offer was deferred adjudication, and everything appeared to be moving in the ordinary rhythm of a busy criminal court docket.… Continue reading A Case and a Crisis Are Not the Same Thing: What Happened When a Courtroom Stopped to Listen
Both Things are True: Why I Refuse to Choose Between Justice and Mercy
For the past several months, I've been trying to find the language for a tension that keeps showing up in my life and work. It appears in courtrooms and classrooms. In ministry and in writing. In conversations about crime, poverty, trauma, faith, and justice. I knew what the tension felt like, but I didn't yet… Continue reading Both Things are True: Why I Refuse to Choose Between Justice and Mercy
This Isn’t a Detour: Why My Toughest Case Is Preparing Me for Capital Defense
There are cases you choose, and there are cases that choose you. This one chose me. I’ve had many moments where I regretted taking on a child‑pornography case. Not because of the work — I can do the work — but because of the weight. The stigma. The isolation. The way people’s faces change when… Continue reading This Isn’t a Detour: Why My Toughest Case Is Preparing Me for Capital Defense
Silence as Structure: What the Church Has Been Allowing
Back in March, I wrote: The tradition I come from has a lot to say about mercy. About the image of God present in every human being. About what it means to stand before judgment and find grace on the other side. But the church has been largely silent on what happens when the state… Continue reading Silence as Structure: What the Church Has Been Allowing
Six Women the State Learned to Kill: The Standard Changed. Ask Why
All month, I’ve been writing about the conditions that make women executable in America — the narratives, the stereotypes, the erasures, the silences. Today is different. Today is about the women themselves. Lisa Montgomery. Wanda Jean Allen. Kimberly McCarthy. Frances Newton. Karla Faye Tucker. Ethel Rosenberg. Six women across different eras and circumstances, pulled into… Continue reading Six Women the State Learned to Kill: The Standard Changed. Ask Why
Before America Could Execute Women
It Had to Decide Which Women Were Women America has never been entirely comfortable executing women. Not because women are incapable of violence.Not because the legal system is merciful. But because female execution disrupts something deeper in the American imagination. Before the state can kill a woman, it often has to make her something else… Continue reading Before America Could Execute Women
On (In)justice 