Category: Legal Practice Units

Philly Defender wins Prestigious NLADA Honor

Posted on by GJackson@philadefender.org

Congrats to our Juvenile Special Defense Chief Michelle Mason for winning a Kutak-Dodds award! Michelle was joined by Philly Defender colleagues when she received the award at the NLADA’s annual Exemplar Awards Gala in Washington, DC.

 

 

About the Award: NLADA bestows the Kutak-Dodds Prizes every year to honor the accomplishments of civil legal aid attorneys, public defenders, assigned counsel, or public interest lawyers who, through the practice of law, are significantly contributing to the enhancement of human dignity.

 

Learn more about the award here

Defender FY 2025 Budget Testimony

Posted on by GJackson@philadefender.org

FY 2025 Budget Request: More resources to support Philly's Youth!

 

On April 16, 2024, Chief Defender Keisha Hudson & Deputy Defender Sarah Allen testified before City Council about our request for a $15 million budget increase in FY 2025.

 

These funds would largely be dedicated to hiring more attorneys and social workers for our child and youth clients, as well as salary increases to bring our attorneys to parity with other city agencies.

 

Read the full budget testimony here

 

Download budget request slides

 

Support Letters for Philly Defenders Budget Proposal

 

The Defender Association is grateful for the amazing support we've received from our community partners, elected officials and other organizations working toward a better justice system, and public safety for all!

 

Community Support letter: over 20 organizations added their names to a letter in support of a budget increase for the work we do with justice system-involved children and youth.

 

Read the letter here

 

Philadelphia Bar Association letter: Thanks to the Philadelphia Bar Association for supporting our attorneys and the work we do all year round. We especially appreciate their support of our budget request

 

Read the Philly Bar Association's letter here.

 

Video: Defender Association Budget Testimony

Gideon 60/Defender 90 CLE Workshops

Posted on by GJackson@philadefender.org

Join us in March for a series of CLE workshops celebrating 60 years of Gideon v. Wainwright and 90 Years of the Defender Association of Philadelphia! 

 

Check out any—or all!—of the workshops. CLE and CEU credits are available!

March 13, 3:00 pm:

History of Social Services and Mental Health at the Defender

 

Moderated by: James Haley

 

Panelists:

Kia Mayes

Erica Berson

Gregg Blender

Luna Pattela

Dana Cook

Candy Chang

March 25, 3:30 pm:

History of Representation of Jailed Clients  by the Defender Association: From “Inmates” to “Incarcerated People”

 

Moderated by: Tom Innes

 

Panelists:

Ben Lerner

Melanie Young

Meredith Zeitzer

March 27, 3:30 pm:

History of Homicide Representation in Philadelphia County:  Before the Defender Homicide Unit; The Sea Change; Homicide Defense Going Forward

 

Moderated by: Tom Innes

 

Panelists:

Ben Lerner

Dan Stevenson

Helen Marino

Everett Gillison

Philly Defenders argue before the PA Supreme Court

Posted on by GJackson@philadefender.org

Defender Association attorneys will be arguing two cases before the PA Supreme Court on March 5 & 6

 

On March 5 and 6, Philly Defender attorneys Katherine Muns and Len Sosnov will be arguing two cases before the PA Supreme Court. Commonwealth v. Saunders and Commonwealth v. Berry are important cases that will have an impact on our clients and Philadelphia’s criminal justice system. More information and links to watch live proceedings are below:

 

Commonwealth v. Saunders (approx 10:00am): The case is the Defender Association’s appeal about whether Commonwealth v. Alexander prevents police from entering a car without a warrant after a vehicle stop to seize a gun or other contraband they can see in the car from the outside. Or, whether as the Superior Court held,  the “plain view exception” permits officers to enter the car and seize the contraband without getting a warrant. The Court’s decision will likely impact a large number of cases for Defender clients.

 

Click here to watch live on March 5

 

 

Commonwealth v. Berry  (9:30am): Pennsylvania law has been inconsistent about when and how a sentencing court can look at and consider a defendant’s prior arrest record. This case argues that due process and the Sentencing Code bar a trial court from considering a defendant’s bare arrest record in imposing a greater sentence.

 

Click here to watch live on March 6

Video: PAU’s Mike Mellon on PhillyCAM

Posted on by GJackson@philadefender.org

On October 2, the Defenders’ Police Accountability Unit Chief Mike Mellon spoke with Danielle Wilson on PhillyCAM about some of the issues related to policing and public safety in Philadelphia.

 

Learn More About the Police Accountability Unit

 

Watch the video below:

 

Video: Why Black & Brown Public Defenders are Crucial

Posted on by GJackson@philadefender.org

We represent 70% of the people accused of crimes in Philadelphia. An overwhelming majority of these are Black and Brown people. Having Black & Brown attorneys and staff is a crucial part of ensuring that we not only understand their legal cases, but who they are as people and the communities they come from.

 

Watch this amazing video produced by Defender Mitigation Specialist Donte Green to hear from Defender attorneys and staff about why you should join our team if you want to make a difference in the lives of our BIPOC clients.

 

 
See Current Job Opportunities

Keisha Hudson on “New Thinking” Podcast

Posted on by 2010admin

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Listen to a snippet from Keisha Hudson here

[/vc_column_text][/vc_column][vc_column width=”1/2″][vc_column_text]Chief Defender Keisha Hudson joins Michigan Law’s Eve Primus, and Brooklyn Law Center’s Alexis Hoag-Fordjour to discuss the groundbreaking yet unfulfilled legacy of Gideon v. Wainwright. 

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Social Workers Break Barriers!

Posted on by 2010admin

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During Social Work Month 2023, watch and learn how the Defender’s team of social workers breaks barriers for our clients and their families!

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Defender Expungement Services

Posted on by 2010admin

[vc_row css=”.vc_custom_1651607872955{padding-top: 20px !important;padding-bottom: 20px !important;background-color: #eeeeee !important;}”][vc_column][vc_column_text]The Defender provides criminal record expungement services for our adult and juvenile clients.[/vc_column_text][vc_empty_space][vc_column_text]

Adult Record Expungement

An expungement is an order that requires state and local criminal justice agencies to erase something from a record. To be eligible for our services you must:

  1. Have an ADULT criminal record in Philadelphia (we cannot handle cases in other counties or states). If you have a juvenile record and you want to see if it can be expunged, please call 267-765-6770, or visit our Juvenile Expungement page 
  2. Have been represented by the Defender Association in your matter(s)
  3. Not have any open cases or currently be supervised on probation or parole.

If you want to get your adult criminal record expunged:

  • You can send us an email: Expungement@philadefender.org; or 
  • fill out the expungement request form on our website here

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Juvenile Record Expungement

Expungement request are the primary request from our Philadelphia community. At every community event we attend we offer one-on-one expungement clinics with our staff attorneys. In 2019 alone, we filed 405 new expungement petitions and saw 438 of our petitions granted by the courts. 

If you have questions about an expungement you can:

Learn more about juvenile record expungement here.[/vc_column_text][/vc_column][/vc_row]

Follow us: @PhillyDefenders