The Indigent Defense Research Association

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 Aliya Birnbaum & Emily Haney-Caron, What advice do parents give their children about plea bargains? Understanding the role of parent race, attorney race, and attorney recommendations , Journal of Ethnicity in Criminal Justice , Vol 21/2, pp. 128-155. This study examined parent acquiescence to attorney recommendations in plea bargain decisions, and the effect of racial similarity between an attorney and their juvenile client’s parent. Scholarship indicates that youth are vulnerable to the influence of authority figures in plea-bargaining, leading to a reliance on parental and attorney input for plea decisions. Parents read a vignette with attorney’s race manipulated, imagining they are participating in th

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 . Webinar Building Texas' Next Generation Public Defense Data System . IDRA webinar, May 19, 2023. Book Robin Steinberg, with contributions by Camilo Ramirez, The Courage of Compassion: A Journey from Judgment to Connection . (Optimism Press).  [From the website:]   "[N]o one, says Robin Steinberg, should be reduced to their worst moment. From the founder and CEO of The Bail Project, The Courage of Compassion unveils how we can reimagine justice through compassion. Steinberg shares her journey as a public defender, representing people at precisely that time in their lives -- their own worst moment. She recounts the heart-wrenching stories of her clients and invites us to interrogate our fears and beliefs about justice

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

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 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

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