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Notable Recent Publications - June 2023

Notable Recent Publications features the latest empirical research and data related to indigent defense. Should you have suggestions, ideas for work that should be included, or trouble accessing any of the articles featured, please write to albdavies@smu.edu . Book David M. Feldman, Paul M. Silvasi, Dayna Rotshtyn, Caleigh Covell Intersections of the Legal System and the Deaf Community From Law Enforcement to Incarceration . (Springer Cham.) This book examines how those with disabilities, and in particular, the Deaf and hard-of-hearing, are impacted by the influence language and culture in policing, criminal law, and corrections... [T]his book can serve as an important resource to the myriad of issues and difficulties that may be experiences by the Deaf suspect, defendant, or inmate, as well as by law enforcement officers, attorneys, and correctional officers.  Articles Kelsey S. Henderson, Kelly T. Sutherland, and Miko M. Wilford, “Reject the Offer”: The Asymmetric Impact
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Notable Recent Publications - May, 2023

Notable Recent Publications features the latest empirical research and data related to indigent defense. Should you have suggestions, ideas for work that should be included, or trouble accessing any of the articles featured, please write to albdavies@smu.edu . Videos IDRA discussion: Client surveys are tough. What should we be doing?   Articles Aviv Caspi Overworking Public Defenders. Most U.S. criminal defendants are represented by government-employed public defenders (PDs). PDs consistently face higher caseloads than recommended by professional guidelines, but systematic evidence of the impacts of excessive workloads on defendants is lacking. This paper uses novel case-level data from three U.S. counties and an instrumental variable approach to study the causal impacts of high caseloads on PD time allocations and defendant outcomes. I exploit variation in case assignment timing, which can lead to unexpected increases in PD workloads, to instrument for workloads and find t

Notable Recent Publications, March 2023

Notable Recent Publications features the latest empirical research and data related to indigent defense. Should you have suggestions, ideas for work that should be included, or trouble accessing any of the articles featured, please write to albdavies@smu.edu    IDRA Webinar Diversity in Indigent Defense Research. Presented in collaboration with the Deason Criminal Justice Reform Center . Articles Milena Ang Idleness as work? How public defenders do their job by waiting . Crime, Law & Social Change. ...Drawing from fieldwork conducted in Oaxaca city, Mexicali, and Tijuana, I find that the public defenders spend a considerable amount of time waiting: waiting in the office for their next case to be assigned, waiting to receive a file, or waiting for the judge to show up in court.... I identify three ways in which defenders do their jobs during their down-time. First, they interchange key information about specific cases with other operators of the system and families and acqua

President's Introductory Remarks: Diversity in Indigent Defense Research

IDRA collaborated with the Deason Criminal Justice Reform Center to host a panel discussion on Diversity in Indigent Defense Research , on February 17, 2023.  Speaking at the event were:  Kenitra Brown Deason Criminal Justice Reform Center Venita Embry Research Triangle Institute  Alexis Hoag-Fordjour Brooklyn Law School   Irene Oritseweyinmi Joe UC Davis School of Law  Sruthi Naraharisetti Center for Justice Innovation IDRA President, Andy Davies , delivered the following introductory remarks at the start of the event. Welcome and thank you for joining us here today for this discussion of Diversity in Indigent Defense Research, a collaborative event hosted by the Indigent Defense Research Association, IDRA, and the Deason Criminal Justice Reform Center. I am happy to be here and in a moment I’ll pass over to my colleague Kenitra Brown from the Deason Center who will be moderating today’s panel. As well as being the Deason Center’s Research Director, I’m also t

Notable Recent Publications - February, 2023

Notable Recent Publications features the latest empirical research and data related to indigent defense. Should you have suggestions, ideas for work that should be included, or trouble accessing any of the articles featured, please write to albdavies@smu.edu   IDRA webinar Marea Beeman: Research to support elimination of public defense fees. IDRA webinar , January 13, 2023. Books Jon B. Gould & Pamela R. Metzger, Transforming Criminal Justice: An Evidence-Based Agenda for Reform , NYU Press. Note especially the following chapters: Raj Jayadev and Janet Moore, "Participatory Defense as an Abolitionist Strategy." Kelly Orians and Troy Rhodes, "Community-Based Reentry: Breaking the Cycle of Reincarceration" Pamela R. Metzger, "Rural Criminal Justice Reform" Shawn Armbrust, "Exonerating the Innocent: It Takes a Village and a New Culture" James Doyle and Maureen Q. McGough, "Learning from Sentinel Events Ed Johnston, The Role of the

Notable Recent Publications - December, 2022

Notable Recent Publications features the latest empirical research and data related to indigent defense. Should you have suggestions, ideas for work that should be included, or trouble accessing any of the articles featured, please write to albdavies@smu.edu .  Articles  Amy Clarke and Lucy Welsh ‘F**k this game ... I’m off’: financial and emotional factors in declining legal representation in miscarriage of justice cases . Journal of Law and Society. [W]e use data from interviews with 45 criminal defence lawyers to examine the reasons behind a decline in publicly funded representation in applications to the Criminal Cases Review Commission (CCRC)... Our analysis finds that financial factors [are] compounded by....a sense of insecurity, low levels of satisfaction, and a perceived lack of recognition and appreciation, symbolized by low levels of remuneration and exacerbated by poor relationships with external parties. Emotional factors thus combine with financial factors to reduce t

Notable Recent Publications - November, 2022

Notable Recent Publications features the latest empirical research and data related to indigent defense. Should you have suggestions, ideas for work that should be included, or trouble accessing any of the articles featured, please write to albdavies@smu.edu .  Articles Malia Brink, ABA SCLAID Public Defense Workload Studies Reveal Systems in Crisis , 37 Criminal Justice, 45-47. In early 2022, the American Bar Association Standing Committee on Legal Aid and Indigent Defense (ABA SCLAID), together with consulting firm Moss Adams LLP, released two reports on public defender workloads-one on Oregon, the other on New Mexico. The reports reflect over two years of study of the jurisdictions' current caseloads and staffing, as well as a Delphi study in each state, which is used to arrive at standards reflecting the average amount of time an attorney should spend to meet the constitutional threshold of effective assistance of counsel, i.e., provide reasonably effective assistance of