Having just returned from sharing our social biography video concept to capital defense attorneys from across the country on how family story can literally save lives, we are happy to share another encouraging development in 2015. We are excited to announce Raj Jayadev was selected as the newest  Ashoka Fellow for De-Bug/ACJP to grow a new national field to advance our concept of “participatory defense.” This model equips families and communities most impacted by mass incarceration in the United States to effectively participate in the criminal defense process and transform the landscape of power in the court system.

Raj joins an international network of nearly 3,000 fellows in 70 countries who are putting their system changing ideas into practice on a global scale. Through seven years of developing participatory defense, De-Bug’s Albert Cobarrubias Justice Project (ACJP) has made impactful change in the local court systems — an arena that seemed impenetrable arena for families to actively advocate for their loved ones facing charges.  But through ACJP, those targeted by the criminal justice system are transformed into agents of change by bringing a community organizing ethic to the courts. In our local work alone, we calculated 1,862 years of time saved through family and community intervention.

With the support of the Ashoka Fellowship, Raj will be expanding our movement of participatory defense nationwide — working and supporting communities to build on their local capacities to transform the criminal justice system. By collaborating with great community stakeholders, public defender offices, and impacted families, we are launching participatory defense pilots, trainings, and media projects in the following places in the next few months:

* Birmingham, Alabama — February

* St.Louis, Missouri — March

* Philadelphia, Pennsylvania — March

* Washington, DC — March

* Los Angeles, California — April

* Lexington, Kentucky — June

If you are an organization, network, or defender office interested in getting trained to start participatory defense in your community to support families capacities to change the outcome of cases of their loved ones, and to transform the policies that govern the courts, please do contact us.

Special thanks to Colette and Diane at the National Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers for coordinating a webinar on March 23rd in DC for us to share our participatory defense model, and how public defenders and communities can start using the organizing model in their regions. We will also cover how to make social biography videos. Sign up and check it out!

We started off 2015 with an inspiring trip to Atlanta to give presentations and trainings on  “participatory defense” to southern state Public Defender Chiefs at the Gideon’s Promise gathering. This army of both young and experienced attorneys are transforming what public defense means in this country as they say, “one lawyer at a time.” We’ve had the great fortune of building with their camp for a couple years now, and are exciting about the new partnerships that are sprouting from our common cause of challenging mass incarceration through movement-building. Here are a few flicks!

 

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Like many cities across the country, San Jose starts 2015 on the heels of a march and rally that echoed the national call for police accountability. We belted chants and held up signs with the names of Mike Brown and Eric Garner.

But calling this event an act of solidarity is not quite accurate. Rather, the march was an act of “familiarity” and a morbid binding of reality that we, too, can speak the names of the deceased who once walked our streets, went to our schools, attended our churches and whose lives were unjustly cut short by a bullet fired from an officer’s gun.

While our event – the “Protect Your People March” – ended at the police department as others across the country have, we started at the district attorney’s office. We made it a point to march within earshot of the windows of our county jail because police are not isolated agents of the state. Rather, they are part of a “criminal justice system” that includes prosecutors, jails, judges and courts.

We picked our march route to make a physical connection showing how the same system that time and again refuses to hold officers accountable for the killing of innocents, is the same one that incarcerates more than 2 million Americans. People of color are disproportionately represented in that number.

The same injustice that allowed the officers who killed Mike Brown and Eric Garner to not be prosecuted, is the same bias that is being used to over prosecute communities of color at a dizzying clip. It is why our march focused on two words that will hopefully become part of this movement’s lexicon moving forward – prosecutorial discretion. Continue reading →

This week, Mark Becker, the Supervisor at the Santa Clara County Alternative Defender’s Office, met with our ACJP organizers and families to share the latest powerpoint presentation DA’s are using to scare juries into guilty verdicts. The powerpoint would have been comical, had it not been that a countless amount of people in Santa Clara County have been denied a fair trial as a result of this propoganda. And yes, that is seriously a photo of Al Pacino from the movie Scarface and an image of Tupac that is shared in the slideshow developed by the San Jose Police Department and presented as researched explanations as to what gangs are. Mr. Becker came by to share with us what DA’s are using in trial so we have a clear idea what we are up against, and perhaps to develop more honest tools that can created to refute the characterization of people facing gang charges. The powerpoint depicted only the most sensational of images — photos of people pointing guns at the camera, piles of drugs and money, and constant barrages of weapons like swords. The presentation is aimed at frightening juries so they can not possibly look at someone has been called a gang member by the DA as a human being. Even the language used in the powerpoint was designed to imply people who have been labeled as gang-related are only predators. One description (it is presented as if an anthropological study) says that gang members are so concerned with “notoriety” that ,”Like a dog they mark their territory.” The ACJP camp have been able to offer of gang experts from the community that can be used by defense attorneys to refute the DA’s case, but we will be brainstorming on media supplements that can be used as well by the defense bar.

We traveled to New York in September of 2014 to do a social biography video for man who had already plead, and was facing 10 years in prison. We were profoundly moved by how the single father took care of his ailing mother and sister, as well as always being the lending hand to friends and the community. His story reminded us again how there never is a sentence just for the “defendant”, but rather that all the time of incarceration is shared time. Indeed, though the sentencing guidelines read 10 years, the family said it very well could have been a death sentence for the mother, who has cancer and relies on her son for all assistance and care. Our video showed the home life, the deeply family oriented lifestyle of the individual, testimonies from family, friends, and therapists. They shared anecdotes while showing pictures, reliving moments, and while also showing how injurious a long sentence would be, articulated how they will be there to ensure a successful life at home if prison was taken off the table. And the best holiday call we received was on the last Friday of 2014 when his lawyer reached out, immediately after the sentencing hearing. A remarkable, and truly committed attorney, Stephen had submitted our social biography video along with a packet of other supporting material to probation and the court. He told us the amazing news he was given a short jail sentence — no prison time! He said he was certain the video was a major reason for the decision by the judge, as the court had referenced the impact of the video for his deliberation. We were honored to play a role in helping a family story be better understood by the court system. We build a unique bond with the families we do social bio vids for because the experience is so intimate — they are sharing what is most important about their lives and futures, with so much on the line. So though we recorded only for a few days, De-Bug/ACJP now has family forever in New York!

From Attorney Stephen Lewis of Stephens Baroni Reilly & Lewis in White Plains New York: 

“I want to thank all at Silicon Valley De-Bug’s ACJP for the professional and effective social biographical video that I recently used in my case in the Southern District of New York. The client  faced a guideline range of 91 to 120 months; the government recommended a guideline sentence, probation recommend four years and the Court imposed a sentence of six months incarceration that included 90 days of home detention. I have no doubt that the video that you produced played a determinative role in that outcome. The Court specifically referenced the video in it’s sentencing decision. Thanks for all the hard work.”

 

Click here for more on our social biography video model.

Check out the inspiring sights and sounds of our Time Saved Party — a unique gathering of families who prevented, or reduced, their loved ones incarceration through participatory defense and partnerships with public defenders. Together, they represent 1,862 years saved from incarceration! It was an incredibly powerful night with people who had beaten life sentence, deportations, and more in attendance. We also launched our Time Saved Documentary Series, starting with our premiere episode featuring Lisa Coulter, we have uploaded it here as well. Below her documentary is a special lenticular print accompaniment that is now installed at the Santa Clara County Public Defender’s Office, that visually shows that family realities are dynamic, rather than static, and illustrates how time served can become time saved. Also, check out the write up of Time Saved which ran in this week’s Silicon Valley Metro. And click here to read the Mercury News coverage of our installation of Time Saved media and our partnership with the SC Public Defender in this powerful article called “Bay Area Public Defender’s Speak Out for Justice.” Both articles note the exciting national expansion of our participatory defense model. And click here to see the beautiful Time Saved Photo Booth slideshow — sharing the faces and incredible stories that make up our movement. See you at the Time Saved 2,500 Party!

Time Saved: The Lisa Coulter Story (Premiered at the Time Saved Party)

The Time Saved Lenticular Print, Installed at the Santa Clara County Public Defender’s Office, and Profiled in Mercury News Silicon Valley Metro Weekly By the Numbers: 1,862 Six years ago, community organizer Raj Jayadev formed the Albert Cobarrubias Justice Project (ACJP)—named after an aspiring lawyer killed in a drive-by shooting—to help families caught up in the criminal justice system. As he began taking on more cases, he grew frustrated when, despite all the services he connected them to, they relinquished so much control once the case went to the courtroom. To affect real change, Jayadev thought, he would have to bridge the divide between the legal establishment and the community. That realization grew into a methodology called “participatory defense.” The idea is to work with public defenders and connect them with a client’s family and community, so they can more effectively tell their full story in court. Through this model, families become extensions of the legal defense team by scouring police reports, reading transcripts, offering defense strategies and speaking up for the defendant. About 80 percent of the 2.5 million Americans behind bars have relied on public defenders to represent them in court and influence the outcome of a case. By facilitating participatory defense in more than 400 cases, the ACJP has won acquittals, had charges dismissed or reduced, changed prison terms to rehabilitation sentences and even knocked life sentences off the table. When accounting for the original maximum sentences and subtracting what the defendant actually received after community intervention, the justice project has saved people a combined 1,862 years of incarceration. Last week, a group of former inmates, their families and friends, ACJP volunteers and public defenders all met at Zero One Garage in downtown San Jose to celebrate the time saved. Jayadev says the plan is to hold a celebration every 1,000 years saved from now on as the program expands into communities around the nation.

As communities across the country express outrage over the grand jury decision not to indict Darrell Wilson for the killing of Michael Brown, and the officer who killed Eric Garner, another relevant case from the Ferguson area is proceeding to trial that’s gives important context. Sylvester Caldwell, the Mayor of Pine Lawn, a neighboring town to Ferguson has been indicted on federal charges of extortion. The following is a video from Pine Lawn and Ferguson residents describing the political corruption in these small municipalities that allowed for the racially targeted police violence to fester. The footage was captured when De-Bug/ACJP producers were in the Ferguson area just two weeks before the shooting death of Michael Brown. For more context regarding wrongful arrests in North St.Louis County, please read the report released by our friends at the ArchCity Defenders.

[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xhgyHFLw0sM w=600&h=550]

With the no indictment decision of officer Darren Wilson for the killing of Mike Brown, and the the same outcome on the officers who killed Eric Garner, the country is left to wonder: Is it even possible for police to be held accountable in the courts? Retired public defender, and ACJP co-founder, Aram James explores the history and potential possibilities of addressing the questions. In the piece, James cites Supreme Court case law advancing the notion that court proceedings for officers should be public and transparent.

No Indictment, no justice, in the cold blooded killing of unarmed African-American youth Michael Brown by white police officer Darren Wilson.  Shortly after, the same no indictment in the New York killing of unarmed African-American father Eric Garner — a death shown around the world on video.

Can we achieve systemic justice in officer involved shootings, and other forms of police murder? Is it possible in this country, given our two tier justice system, one designed for the police and another designed for the rest of us? What are the necessary steps we must take to restore trust in our criminal justice system, when the police seem, rarely, if ever, to be held fully accountable, when they shoot and kill, strangle and tase and brutally beat to death, unarmed people of color, and the poor? Continue reading →

We are proud to announce Time Saved: The 1800 Party — a special gathering of families who make up over 1800 years of time saved from incarceration or detention. The event will bring together families we have worked with over the years who have beat misdemeanors to life sentences, and deportations. They also represent what is possible in challenging mass incarceration through family and community organizing in the courts — what we call “participatory defense.” The event will also serve as the premiere of our series “Time Saved” a documentary series of families and public defenders who through their collaboration prevent incarceration. To come, or to donate, please RSVP the email on the flyer.