Immigration and a Movement Toward Holistic Public Defense

Robin Steinberg, founder and executive director of The Bronx Defenders, had a vision fifteen years ago that the people of the Bronx- especially low-income clients who could not afford private lawyers- deserved better, more holistic legal representation. Rather than just determining the facts of the crime, she sought to redefine the whole paradigm of criminal public defense, by working with clients on their housing, family support, and education to best represent not only their criminal case but provide opportunities for a better future outside the justice system. In 1997, Steinberg made this vision a reality, with the founding of The Bronx Defenders, a public defense organization that aims to do just that.

Now, a decade and a half later, the court ruling Padilla v. Kentucky has made it obligatory for all lawyers to adequately advise their clients on the potential immigration consequences of a plea- which is especially significant in the push towards a more holistic system of public legal representation. For example, a marijuana violation is usually one of the less consequential pleas a defendant can take, and is supposed to disappear from one's record after a year; however, for a someone who isn't a US citizen (even if they are documented), a marijuana plea could lead to deportation.

Check out Steinberg's Huff Post article, "Supreme Court Ruling Speaks of a New Kind of Public Defense,"for a deeper analysis of what Padilla v. Kentucky means for both immigration law and public defense- and be sure to come to Robin Steinberg's talk on "Redefining Public Defense" Monday Feb. 28th at 4:30 in BiHall 220!

Jury Nullification: Political Advocacy vs. Lawlessness

Jury nullification describes the process in which members of the jury disregard either the instructions of the judge or the evidence presented in order to reach a verdict reflective of their own consciences. This seemingly technical process has become a controversial form of political advocacy that some have recognized as an effective mechanism for addressing change through the legal system. Recently, a vocal advocate of jury nullification was indicted for interference with the jury decision making process, as covered by the New York Times here. While grounded in the technicalities of the court, jury nullification raises some important questions about how jurors should be making their decisions and what role political advocacy has in the court room.

Symposium keynote speaker Paul Butler has wrote extensively on the concept of race-based jury nullification. To find out more about Professor Butler's "Martin Luther King jurors" before his talk on Sunday, check out his interview with NPR, his Huffington Post article "My Jury Service to America," or his book Let's Get Free, which is on display in the Davis Family Library lobby.

Paul Butler's keynote address, "A Hip Hop Theory of Justice: Race and the American Justice System," will take place at McCullough Social Space at 7 pm on Sunday February 27th and is open to the public.

Prisoners of the Census: Voting Rights and Incarceration in the US

Prison-based gerrymandering is the practice of counting prisoners as residents of a particular district, thereby increasing the district's population with non-voters when assigning political apportionment. This practice is particularly problematic in drawing political power and resources away from already under-represented urban areas that prisoners often come from, and re-allocating it to rural districts containing large prisons, despite the fact that prisoners are generally denied the right to vote. This often results in increased political power and resources (ie. funding for education, infrastructure, and other public services) being allocated to conservative rural districts, even though the prisoner "residents" usually come from and return to urban areas.

This practice has attracted attention from the media recently, spurred by former New York Governor David Patterson signing legislation banning prison-based gerrymandering in New York, a policy which the New York Times editorial, "An End to Prison Gerrymandering," says "deserves to be emulated all across the country." For more information on prison-based gerrymandering in practice and potential solutions, check out the important research being conducted by the Prison Policy Initiative.

And be sure to come to the "Structure and Reform in the US Prison System" symposium talk on Tuesday March 1st at 4:30 pm in Bicentennial Hall 219 with John Perry, former Director of Planning for the Vermont State Prison system for 30 years, and Juliana Ratner, program director of a non-profit focused on alternative prison reform. Learn lots and ask hard questions!


And lastly, a fun, prison-related fact: Vermont and Maine are the only two states in the US that allow prisoners to vote while in prison, which is kind of a big deal, considering 14 states ban anyone with a felony conviction from voting for life.

Stop-and-Frisks: Bias and Police Profiling in NYC

Stop-and-frisks, in which officers stop passerby they believe to look "suspicious" and conduct a questioning and pat-down, have become an important part of policing in New York City over the past few years. While the NYPD argues that frisks have resulted in significant decreases in crime, the tactics used in determining what constitutes "suspicious" have become controversial. In certain targeted areas of the city, such as Brownsville, Brooklyn, there are 93 stops for every 100 residents annually. The rate of stop-and-frisks is even higher for black males between 15-34, who are stopped an average of 5 times a year in Brownsville, often at their own residences. While stop-and-frisks may lead to some additional arrests, the effects this practice has on the relationship between the community and the police are often more significant than the short-term results (ie. the 25 guns recovered from over 50,000 stops in 2006). Because many of the stop-and-frisks take place in and around the projects, many residents are profiled purely based on where they live.

Check out this great, comprehensive New York Times article on stop-and-frisks in NYC in recent years, and be sure to explore astounding statistics on the interactive map.

What do you think about stop-and-frisk policing? Have you ever been stopped-and-frisked? How does your community, race, or socioeconomic status shape your perspective on police profiling?

Mapping Justice and Inequality in the US

A picture speaks a thousand words- or in this case, a map. There are now a few groups that have been producing great resources on the geography of incarceration and inequality in the American justice system. From a spatial perspective, the geographic divisions in who goes to jail and who doesn't becomes much more tangible- for the most part, incarceration is clustered in poor, often minority neighborhoods. Check out these maps created by the Justice Mapping Center and the Justice Atlas of Sentencing and Corrections to see some alarming patterns of incarceration across the US.

Immigration Trends Across the US

Immigration legislation is a hot issue, at both the state and federal levels. Despite the strong federal immigration policy in the US, distinctions in the immigrant experience in different states have become more and more apparent- for example, Arizona's strict SB1070 legislation vs. anti-race based profiling in Middlebury. Check out the Migration Policy Institute's cross-section of immigration trends across the US, including a surprising statistic on our own state of Vermont. 


States vary in the share of naturalized US citizens among their immigrants. Out of immigrants in Hawaii and Vermont, 57 percent were US citizens by naturalization, compared to less than 31 percent in new immigrant-destination states such as Arkansas, North Carolina, Mississippi, Alabama, and Nebraska.

Race and the American Justice System

While the allegation that our justice system is racist might seem to be a controversial generalization, take a minute to examine some of these very real statistics on race and incarceration in the US. In this Huffington Post article, Bill Quigley, legal director of the Center for Constitutional Rights, outlines some of the major debates surrounding race and the justice system, such as the extensive sentences for non-violent drug crimes that affect a disproportionate number of blacks in the US (for more on this, see the NPR This American Life story on drug sentencing we posted earlier).

Paul Butler on NPR: Hip Hop Justice

Check out this short NPR clip of symposium keynote speaker Paul Butler discussing a few of his favorite hip hop songs and how they relate to inequalities in the American justice system and illuminate the structural violence in our communities.

http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=120567774

Paul Butler's Keynote Speech will be on Sunday February 27th in McCullough at 7 pm.

Thanks to Our Wonderful Sponsors!

As the symposium approaches (rapidly! hurray!) we wanted to recognize the many departments, clubs, and programs who have been so helpful in ensuring the success of this event. Thank you to the:

American Studies Department, Atwater Commons, Brainerd Commons, Center for the Comparative Study of Race and Ethnicity, Chellis House - Women's Resource Center, Geography Department, Peace and Conflict Studies Club, Political Science Department, Prajna Meditation Club, Ross Commons, Sociology/Anthropology Department, Verbal Onslaught, and Women’s & Gender Studies Program.

NPR Gets Word of "The Dhamma Brothers"

Check out NPR's take on the fascinating story of Alabama's "most violent prisoners" and their new practice of Vipassana meditation (as depicted in the film "The Dhamma Brothers"):

http://www.npr.org/2011/02/08/133505880/at-end-of-the-line-prison-an-unlikely-escape

The film will be screened as part of Middlebury's Communities & Justice Symposium on Monday, February 28th at 8pm in BiHall Room 220 and will be co-hosted by Prajna Meditation Club.

Price of Freedom: the Intersection of Bail for Low-Income Defendants and Human Rights

In America's justice system, bail often provides an option for defendants to avoid biding time in prison; however, for many low-income defendants, bail isn't an option. The NY Daily News recently ran a story on bail as a form of punishment for low-income New Yorkers and the human rights implications of it, written by Jamie Fellner at the Human Rights Watch. Especially for misdemeanors, bail can establish serious consequences for those who can't pay up, even if the sum seems relatively low. Check out the story below, as well as the full report published by the Human Rights Watch, titled "Price of Freedom: Bail and Pre-trial Detention of Low Income Nonfelony Defendants in New York City."

NY Daily News: http://www.nydailynews.com/opinions/2010/12/09/2010-12-09_bail_equals_jail_an_equation_that_punishes_new_yorks_poorest.html#ixzz17dO0Tgz0

Human Rights Watch report: http://www.hrw.org/en/node/94574/section/1