National Public Defense Virtual Conference 2021

Laws are written in Black and White. People directly impacted by these laws encounter them in a world of color and cruelty. How can public defenders leverage our perspective and expertise inside of court to build multidimensional, story-driven advocacy campaigns and contribute to movements outside of court to change the law, policies, and practices that devastate the people and communities we serve? Why should we?

This session will begin the Zealous series of conversations throughout this conference about how public defenders can effectively, morally, and ethically navigate between and reconcile these two apparent extremes. We will explore what "success" can look like, the intellectual frameworks, and skills needed, including working collaboratively with people and communities defenders represent, as well as community organizations and artists.