The Indigent Defense Research Association

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 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 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 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

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 Cynthia Alkon, Criminal Court System Failures During COVID-19: An Empirical Study . Ohio Journal on Dispute Resolution. How did the criminal legal system respond to the early months of pandemic in 2020? This article reports the results of a unique national survey of judges, defense lawyers, and prosecutors.... [S]urvey results detail, in ways not previously fully understood, how crucial...in-person communications are and how ill-prepared the criminal courts and legal professionals were to deal with the quick change to online and remote platforms... [T]here were not processes...in place to consult with all the professionals as changes were being made. This may be one reason for the critical system failures re

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 videos The Post-Pandemic Criminal Courts , Prof. Elizabeth Webster. Articles   Suzanne St. George, Colleen Sullivan, Breanne E. Wylie, Kelly McWilliams, Angela D. Evans, Stacia N. Stolzenberg. Did Your Mom Help You Remember?: An Examination of Attorneys’ Subtle Questioning About Suggestive Influence to Children Testifying About Child Sexual Abuse   Vol 37, issue 15-16, Journal of Interpersonal Violence . "[A]ttorneys, and defense attorneys, in particular, may be motivated to ask about suggestive influence and truthfulness in subtle ways, such as with implied meaning (e.g., “Did your mom help you remember?”).... We examined 7,103 lines of questioning asked by prosecutors and defense attorneys to 64 child