NAPD 2023 Rise, Resist, Represent Conference

Where does public defense come from? I argue that our roots, more-so than Gideon, are found in the labor, racial justice and socialist movement struggles of the 1930s and the landmark Supreme Court Case, Powell v. Alabama. My presentation examines the history of public defense in the United States, with an eye toward emphasizing the importance of social and political movements, as well as the implications for our role as defenders in the current context.