Welcome to the King County Department of Public Defense’s Profiles in Service, a series that will highlight the contributions of our committed public servants and provide a platform for attorneys and professional staff to share their insights on the evolving practice of public defense. For our inaugural interview, recently retired attorney supervisor Deb Wilson sat…
Report from King County Department of Public Defense finds Seattle’s drug criminalization law failed to compel treatment in at least 97% of cases.
Last week, DPD’s summer interns concluded their 10-week program representing clients through Washington’s unique Rule 9 license, which allows closely supervised law students to speak on the record in court. With the support of experienced supervisors and in partnership with attorneys in DPD’s misdemeanor units, interns gained invaluable experience defending clients from their first appearance…
Cecilia Atkins, a rising 3L student at Michigan Law, chose to spend her summer internship at DPD largely because of Washington’s unique Rule 9 licensure that allows supervised students to speak on the record. At the start of the 10-week program, she took over a handful of cases from a public defender who rotated into…
Key bills passed by lawmakers advance systemic change in both criminal and dependency law, helping to build a more compassionate response to trauma, poverty, and racial inequity.
Dre Glaspy sat in jail for more than five years for the death of a child he loved. A defense team, with the help of top medical experts, showed what really happened. Now Dre can begin the hard but meaningful work of rebuilding his life, while grieving for the boy he lost.
DPD filed an amicus brief in Brackeen, pending before the U.S. Supreme Court, to provide a realistic view of ICWA’s careful ‘case-by-case decision-making.’ The law, our brief says, ‘results in better judicial decisions.’
DPD’s 19 interns just wrapped up a 10-week program. Four of them talked to us about what made it meaningful — from arguing motions, to challenging search warrants, to going to trial. Most meaningful, they said, was working with clients, fighting on behalf of people ensnared in a harmful system.
Many at DPD are mourning Don Madsen, a public defense leader who loved the work and the people who were drawn to it.
Nate Sanders had lost hope of an early release. Then the State Supreme Court invalidated the state’s felony drug law, and a DPD attorney sent him a letter. He’s now a free man.
Unregulated evidence, from the way a person dresses to the color of their skin, profoundly influences jurors. And yet it often goes unchallenged and unchecked, says Bennett Capers.
Thousands of people are in prison due to a law the State Supreme Court found unconstitutional. Now, attorneys are trying to address the harms of these wrongful convictions.
DPD started its post-conviction unit earlier this year. Already, its three part-time attorneys have seen 200 people, helping many of them extinguish thousands of dollars in crippling LFOs and wipe old convictions from their records.
DPD Director Anita Khandelwal voices concerns about the proposals put forward by a regional working group seeking to address the issues that cause people to cycle through the criminal legal system.
Seattle Public Library started its new “Read to Me!” program after librarians realized how many parents were incarcerated in the King County jail, just a few blocks away from the downtown branch.
For The Defense 