I often get questions about collaborating with participatory defense groups in my court cases, such as the Maddesyn George case in federal court or the Leah Eggleson case in Tacoma. While many lawyers might hesitate to involve supporters due to concerns about confidentiality, bench-bar press guidelines, or a perceived loss of control, and these apprehensions are understandable. However, I believe that, overall, partnering with a participatory defense group is highly beneficial. In this post, I’ll share some tips on effectively working with community activists and how you can empower them to support your client.

Let’s start though with what participatory defense is. Participatory defense is a community organizing model that seeks to give power back to individuals, families, and communities to participate directly in the defense of those facing criminal charges. The model of participatory defense was developed by Raj Jayadev of Silicon Valley De-Bug. He just came out with a book called Protect Your People.  I recently finished reading this book, and I will make reference to it below.

Keep in mind that a participatory defense group led by community organizers is simply going to give structure to probably what is already going on anyway. Every criminal defense lawyer knows that friends and family will sometimes do things to try to help, like try to find witnesses, write letters of support, try to talk to the prosecutor or even the judge, complain to the media, or research ideas online. Community organizers can assist in directing this energy towards ways that help rather than hurt.  Here are ways they can help:

Establishing a Liaison to the Family

Every defense lawyer knows what it is like to have multiple family members all call with the same question.  A successfully participatory defense group can organize and put one person in charge of being the liaison to the legal counsel.  In the Maddesyn George case that I did, I actually did weekly Zoom meeting with the supporters, but this isn’t necessarily required.  Not every defense lawyer has time for this.

Assisting with Resources

A participatory defense group often will have more connections with resources then many defense lawyers.  I know in the cases where I worked with community organizers they would put me in touch with national expert witnesses, and with journalists who would assist in correcting false information that was already in the media about our cases. 

Helping with Raising Bail

Participatory defense groups often have contacts with bail funds that can assist in getting a client released.  Additionally, they can assist in raising money for bail through a social media. 

Focusing the Courtroom Presence

Having supporters in a courtroom can be reassuring but it can also be a distraction. Lawyers can’t look over their shoulder during court. Typically, with friends or family of the defendant a lawyer has to worry about phones going off, or people muttering audibly during trial, or making faces during court, but these concerned are lessened when working with an experienced participatory defense hub. Raj Jayadev writes: “[During trial] we would encourage everyone to take notes on whatever stood out to them. When we had breaks we would debrief and cross reference notes, then send them to the attorney. We would observe the jury and their reactions.” (Page 46).

Inmate Jail Calls

As every lawyer know clients talking on the phone at the jail is one of the most problematic parts of representing a person who is detained pretrial. No matter what you tell the client (or the family) inmates will always seem to talk about what happened, what their defense will be and what their trial strategy will be. A participatory defense group will reiterate to the family and the client not to talk about the case on the phone, and Raj Jayadev mentions this in his group. “At our meetings, families learned that jail calls were recorded, and so they shouldn’t talk about the case…” (Page 12)

Support for Public Defenders

Working with participatory defense hubs is not just for private lawyers.  Many participatory defense hubs have good relationships with public defenders’ offices across the country. The book Protect Your People is very supportive of public defenders and cautions families against targeting public defenders as the source of their problems. (Page 13-14) In one chapter, the book recounts a success story where a public defender took over a case that a private lawyer had messed up and helped get justice for a defendant.  (Page 112)

It is not my intention to make it sound like it is just the job of a participatory defense hub to help the defense lawyer. They are also there to hold us, as lawyers, accountable. And it requires a certain level of humility and patience to make the relationship work. And it works best when a lawyer is willing to look at things in new ways, and address some of their biases and preconceived notions. If you are new to participatory defense, hopefully I have piqued your curiosity. I would encourage lawyers to learn more about this through this book I reference or though material online. Feel free to reach to me if you have any questions. I am not an expert, but I have noticed that there are very few lawyers in Washington who are willing to work with community organizers.  That is a shame because if we are going to end mass incarceration, we must all work together.

What thoughts do you have? Do you see the value of participatory defense? Do you have any experience dealing with community groups in the defense of your cases? Write your comments below.

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