Media and Multimedia
“What California’s response to Trump’s threatened mass deportations is missing”
California’s leaders are overlooking our legal system’s single most important means of preventing mass deportations: public defenders, writes The Wren Collective’s Cyn Yamshiro in The Los Angeles Times.
“California is failing to provide a vital safeguard against wrongful convictions”
A CalMatters investigation reveals that underfunded public defense systems across California routinely deny defendants access to crucial investigative support.
“The Man Who Unsolved a Murder”
This CalMatters feature tells the story of an investigator whose work to exonerate a wrongly convicted man highlights systemic failures in California’s indigent defense.
“New report calls for end to flat‑fee contracts for indigent defense in California”
A major report calls for ending flat-fee public defense contracts that prioritize volume over quality and disproportionately harm poor defendants of color, reports The Davis Vanguard.
Additional Recent Media
“California criticized for inadequate funding of indigent defense in justice system” (Davis Vanguard)
Legal experts and advocates criticize California’s chronic underfunding of indigent defense, arguing it violates constitutional protections.
“California’s public defense crisis demands passage of AB 690” (Orange County Register)
Nick Schultz urges passage of AB 690 as a critical step toward fixing California’s unequal and overburdened public defense system.
“Bill to Ban Flat Fees in Indigent Defense Clears Key Committee” (Daily Journal)
AB 690, which would outlaw flat-fee contracts for indigent defense, cleared a major legislative hurdle with bipartisan support.
“AB 690 Targets Flawed Indigent Defense Contracts in California” (Davis Vanguard)
The article outlines how AB 690 aims to replace flat-fee public defense arrangements with a model focused on quality legal representation.
“In California, criminal defense is shaped by money and location” (Mercury News)
This opinion piece critiques how criminal defense outcomes in California depend more on wealth and geography than fairness or justice.