Stop the Ban coalition members Aram James and Edie Keating discuss issues with judicial candidate Annrae Angel (in center)

On May 18th, the Stop the Ban Coalition (STB) — a broad coalition of groups opposed to criminalizing the homeless — held a judicial candidate forum in Palo Alto, CA. Annrae Angel was the only candidate to attend, and she along with candidate Julianne Sylva submitted written responses presented by coalition member Aram James. The forum, and written correspondence, is precedent setting in that it serves as the first time judicial candidates were asked to respond to the homeless community and advocates. Click here to read candidate responses to questions…

Jonathan Rapping, Founder of Gideon’s Promise, recently sent us a piece he wrote for the Texas Law Review. The writing is a compelling canvassing and analysis of the criminal justice system, as well as a call to action on the significant role public defenders must play in order to stop mass incarceration. 

I. Introduction

Anthony Lewis was a masterful storyteller.  He used his skills to raise public awareness about some of our nation’s most important constitutional principles and to show how Supreme Court pronouncements translate into the realization of ideals that are fundamental to our democracy.  Nowhere is Lewis’s talent and influence more evident than in his work, Gideon’s Trumpet, the David-and-Goliath story behind one of the nation’s most important criminal procedure cases, Gideon v. Wainwright,[1] which ruled that any defendant in a criminal trial should be given a lawyer to defend him.[2]  This book, and a subsequent Hollywood movie based on it,[3] taught the public about the Court’s attempt to address a basic unfairness in our criminal justice system.  At a time when America was struggling to deal with a history of injustice in so many realms, Gideon’s Trumpet shined a light on one of the country’s most oppressive institutions, and it gave us hope that we could correct its deficiencies. Continue reading →