The Defender Initiative advocates for better representation for people facing loss of their liberty in juvenile and other court proceedings through a combination of research and writing, and strategic litigation. Public education is also a major component of the work of the Initiative, and conferences at Seattle University School of Law and elsewhere are a part of that effort. Here are some of the Initiative's recent and ongoing events and activities.
The Tenth Annual Conference on Public Defense was held February 28, 2020. The focus was "Applying American Racial History to Improve Client Representation: Information and Skills to Help You Make a Difference in Combating Racial Bias." In the past two years, there has been a great deal of mainstream discussion of the repressed history of racial oppression in the United States. Jeff Robinson's "Who We Are", Bryan Stevenson's Equal Justice Initiative Museum and Memorial, and the New York Times "1619 Project" are among the key examples. This conference aims to help defenders understand and incorporate that history into more effective representation of their clients. The discussion sessions covered the spectrum of representation, from bail to trial to sentencing, with an emphasis on what defenders can do immediately to make a difference for their clients.
View the conference agenda and materials.
The 9th Annual Conference on Public Defense was held March 8, 2019, and discussed the opportunities presented by new rules and appellate decisions and by ongoing system reform efforts. The program explored new tools and approaches to help individual clients and to facilitate broader reform. The Keynote Speaker was Adam Foss, Executive Director and founder of Prosecutor Impact, a nonprofit organization that works to help prosecutors reframe their role in the criminal legal system.
View the conference agenda and materials
The School of Law has announced the establishment of a summer fellowship working on issues of equal justice, including racial disparity, beginning in summer 2018.
The fellowship, inspired by Jerry Calhoun's (BA, Seattle U '67) association with Bryan Stevenson and The Equal Justice Initiative in Montgomery, Alabama, will be hosted by The Defender Initiative at the law school. The program will provide a tremendous opportunity for Seattle U Law students to advance their skills and training to promote equal justice. Professor Bob Boruchowitz will supervise the fellowship.
In the first four summers of the fellowship, 19 students worked on projects addressing youth justice issues, including racial disparity and sentencing and development of diversion programs. The Fellows had the opportunity to meet with leading lawyers and community advocates. They did research supporting defender attorneys' advocacy for individual clients and assisted Professor Boruchowitz with a juvenile appeal.
For more information, please email Professor Boruchowitz at boruchor@seattleu.edu.
The Defender Initiative's Eighth Annual Conference on Public Defense was held March 9, 2018, at Seattle University School of Law.
The 2018 conference theme was "Defenders-Effecting Change, for Clients and for the Courts." Public Defense in Washington has made enormous strides over the past decades but many challenges remain as well as new challenges emerging. The Defender Initiative Conference on Public Defense is an important opportunity for defenders and public defense advocates to share ideas, review and discuss cutting edge proposals, and come together in camaraderie of companions; and gain inspiration from the keynote speaker, who this year was Jeff Robinson, former defender.
View the conference agenda and materials.
The Defender Initiative's Seventh Annual Conference on Public Defense was held March 3, 2017, at Seattle University School of Law.
This year's conference discussed, "Fifty Years Since Gault, Fifty-Four Years Since Gideon - Progress and Challenges on Right to Counsel." The promises of the Gault and Gideon decisions remain only partially fulfilled. Six weeks into a new federal administration, we will review how we can more fully implement the right to counsel, focusing on issues affecting juveniles and young adults. We will discuss how to use in daily defender practice some of the major developments in understanding how young people think; how to address issues of race in representing defender clients; and new ideas in diversion as well as the Council on Public Defense Proposed Juvenile Performance Guidelines.
View the program agenda and materials.
The Defender Initiative Sixth Annual Conference on Public Defense was held on March 4, 2016, at Seattle University School of Law.
The program covered very important topics and trends in legal defense but also had an emphasis on the role of money in our system. Topics included: Cash warrants and related financial barriers; Bail issues; Monetary Sanctions and LFO barriers. There also were sessions on: National Trends in Workload Studies, and Litigation to Limit Caseloads; and a new initiative to help clients who have multiple arrests, and a history of mental illness and substance abuse.
Speakers included: King County Prosecutor Dan Satterburg; King County Superior Court Judge Ron Kessler; Edmonds Municipal Court Judge Linda Coburn; and Director of the Public Defender Association Lisa Daugaard.
View the program agenda and materials.
The Initiative recently received a renewal of a grant from the U.S. Department of Justice to work for public defense improvement in several states, including Utah, Mississippi, and Michigan. The Initiative is working with The Sixth Amendment Center on this project, which included an assessment of Utah's public defense services. The report on that assessment was published on October 26, 2015. The Utah Judicial Council Study Committee on the Representation of Indigent Criminal Defendants in Trial Courts accepted the recommendations of the report.
Professor Boruchowitz wrote a letter and spoke to the Michigan Supreme Court in support of standards for public defense proposed by the Michigan Indigent Defense Commission.
U.S. Senate Judiciary Committee hearing, May 13, 2015
Professor Boruchowitz testified at the U.S. Senate Judiciary Committee hearing.
The Defender Initiative held its Fifth Annual Conference on Public Defense on March 6, 2015.
Overview of the conference:
View the program agenda and materials.
The Defender Initiative held the Fourth Annual Conference on Public Defense on March 7, 2014.
Overview of the conference:
The Defender Initiative held its Third Annual Public Defense Conference this past March 8, 2013.
Overview of the conference:
The Second Annual Defender Initiative Conference on Public Defense took place March 2, 2012.
Overview of the conference:
In concert with the Louisville, Kentucky Public Defender office, the Initiative presented a seminar at the Louisville Bar Association January 27, 2012.
Overview of the seminar:
The First Annual Defender Conference took place February 25, 2011.
Overview of the conference:
The Fred T. Korematsu Center and The Defender Initiative sponsored a CLE at the Seattle University School of Law on June 11, 2010.
Robert C. Boruchowitz, The Defender Initiative, and the Washington Defender Assocation, January 22, 2010
Professor Boruchowitz presented a Webinar for the Washington Defender Association about the Misdemeanor Counsel project and the right to counsel at arraignment.
The Initiative hosted a continuing education seminar on November 6, 2009.
Overview of the seminar:
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