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
Release to Where
Note: this post falls outside my regular rotation. May is dedicated to women and the death penalty. But some things you witness in a courtroom don't wait for the right month on the calendar. The series continues Wednesday. The problem was not whether the man could leave jail. The problem was where he would go… Continue reading Release to Where
Good Women Don’t Do This
Gender, Judgment and the Stories We Need Women to Fit There are some crimes society expects from men. Violence, brutality, rage — however uncomfortable those realities may be, people tend to view them as familiar. Disturbing, but unsurprising. The cultural script already exists. But when a woman commits a violent crime, the reaction often feels… Continue reading Good Women Don’t Do This
Condemned Twice: They Were Never Just the Crime
Opening a Month-Long Series on Women and the Death Penalty In March, I told you this post was just the door. I said we would go deep— into the history, the data, the race, the cases, the faith questions that don't have easy answers. I meant it. May is here. The door is open. There… Continue reading Condemned Twice: They Were Never Just the Crime
The Ones You Learn to Recognize
A Closing Reflection on a Month Inside Juvenile Justice I had a clean way to close this series. But after reading the notes for my first appointed client of the day, it simply didn’t feel honest anymore. My new client, seventeen. When I checked in with the court coordinator, she looked at the notes on… Continue reading The Ones You Learn to Recognize
Not One System. Both.
What It Means to Be 17 in Texas with Cases in Two Courts Two of my clients currently have open cases in the juvenile system. Because they were charged with new offenses at 17, they are also now facing charges in adult court. They are navigating both systems at the same time. This is what… Continue reading Not One System. Both.
The Case Doesn’t End in Court
What’s Really at Stake By now, it should be clear that in Texas, turning 17 changes everything. The same behavior, the same circumstances, the same child—placed in a different system, with different consequences. But for some children, the consequences don't stop at the courtroom door. I represented a 17-year-old who is not a U.S. citizen.… Continue reading The Case Doesn’t End in Court
On (In)justice 