After court and lunch, I walked the few blocks to the jail. It’s close enough that the transition feels abrupt — one minute I’m checking status of discovery, and the next I’m handing over my ID, my bar card, and a little card with my client’s name and location. They give me back the client… Continue reading So I Go: The Unglamorous Work of Showing Up
Tag: indigent defense
When Innocence Competes with Survival
She told me from day one she didn’t do it. Not in a dramatic way. Not in a “let me convince you” way. Just a quiet, steady truth she carried every time we talked. And then the seizures started coming harder. More frequent. More violent. More unpredictable. By the time we reached the point where… Continue reading When Innocence Competes with Survival
Nothing About My Work Looks Like That
Law & Order SVU has been my show for years, but let’s be honest — nothing about my actual work looks like that. There’s no dramatic music. No last‑minute confessions. No detectives sprinting down hallways. And absolutely no scene where a defense attorney gets an investigator without filing a motion, drafting a proposed order, and… Continue reading Nothing About My Work Looks Like That
Nobody’s Hands Are Clean: On Advocacy, Accountability, and a Trial I Wish Wasn’t Happening
There are some weeks when being a criminal defense lawyer feels straightforward. This is not one of them. I'm preparing for a trial that I wish wasn't happening—not because I don't believe in trying cases, but because this one sits in the uncomfortable space where multiple truths exist at the same time. My client made… Continue reading Nobody’s Hands Are Clean: On Advocacy, Accountability, and a Trial I Wish Wasn’t Happening
In the Interest of Justice — On a Case That Never Should Have Been Filed and a Mother Who Deserved Better
The last few weeks have been a season of grief and illness — and if I'm honest, the illness isn't fully behind me yet. But you've walked some of this with me, and I have something from the courtroom worth sharing. Some cases stay with you not because they were dramatic, but because they reveal… Continue reading In the Interest of Justice — On a Case That Never Should Have Been Filed and a Mother Who Deserved Better
Carrying Both—When the Work Doesn’t Stop and Neither Does the Hurt
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
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
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
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
The Question He Couldn’t Answer — and Why
I’m still planning my blog year — discerning what I want my voice to hold and what I want to pour into. But some stories don’t wait for your calendar. Some moments insist on being named while they’re still warm. And before I could settle into any goals or themes for the year, today reminded… Continue reading The Question He Couldn’t Answer — and Why
