https://www.justiceforallca.org/home daily 1.0 2025-07-28 https://www.justiceforallca.org/abolishingflatfees daily 0.75 2025-07-28 https://video.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/6849d648e27faa58868403d6/77838f04-8bdd-4bc8-aec1-14039ba4bc69/playlist.m3u8 https://video.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/6849d648e27faa58868403d6/77838f04-8bdd-4bc8-aec1-14039ba4bc69/thumbnail Abolish Flat Fees Wren Principal Josh Schwartz joined Hunter Parnell, host of the Public Defenseless Podcast, to speak about the impact of flat fee public defender contracts in California. Josh discusses findings from our report, Contracted to Fail: How Flat-Fee Contracts Undermine the Right to Counsel in California, which uncovers troubling patterns within the model of flat fee contracts that undermine the overall quality of defence for Californians. Listen to the full episode. https://video.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/6849d648e27faa58868403d6/f1d977a7-cf10-417c-a407-500226df72fc/playlist.m3u8 https://video.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/6849d648e27faa58868403d6/f1d977a7-cf10-417c-a407-500226df72fc/thumbnail Abolish Flat Fees We hosted a briefing on the Fair Representation Act (AB 690), authored by Assembly Member Nick Schultz. He was joined by Brendon Woods (Chief Defender, Alameda County), Kate Chatfield (Executive Director, California Public Defenders Association), Professor Sean Kennedy (Loyola Law School), and Raj Jayadev (De-Bug) in a conversation led by Leon Parker of the Wren Collective. Our speakers made it clear: Flat-fee contracts hurt not just clients but entire communities here in California. The Fair Representation Act offers a clear path forward in safeguarding liberty and improving public safety. Watch the full briefing. https://www.justiceforallca.org/defender-community-relationships daily 0.75 2025-07-28 https://www.justiceforallca.org/getinvolved daily 0.75 2025-08-22 https://www.justiceforallca.org/california-independent-commission-on-public-defense daily 0.75 2026-07-28 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/6849d648e27faa58868403d6/5cde5fd8-385b-4ef0-984e-0270712af267/CICPD_Logo_Typography.png.png https://www.justiceforallca.org/resources-and-media daily 0.75 2025-07-15 https://www.justiceforallca.org/resources-and-media/ab-690-fact-sheet monthly 0.5 2025-07-15 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/6849d648e27faa58868403d6/cb4a2425-f030-406c-95c0-19598578cab4/Screenshot+2025-07-15+at+6.44.16%E2%80%AFPM.png https://www.justiceforallca.org/resources-and-media/project-three-ph2n3-p9l7e monthly 0.5 2025-07-15 https://www.justiceforallca.org/resources-and-media/project-two-whgpe-3cbja monthly 0.5 2025-07-14 https://www.justiceforallca.org/resources-and-media/project-one-h346n-whe9w monthly 0.5 2025-07-14 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/6849d648e27faa58868403d6/119e5bae-55b7-4a45-80ef-20f64e09fb8a/Untitled+design+%2821%29.png Resources and Media - Read Our Report California was once the nation’s leader in public defense, home to the first ever public defender’s office, decades before Gideon v. Wainwright. Today, the state is in the midst of a public defense crisis and a main cause is the reliance on “flat-fee” contracts with for-profit private attorneys and firms, where lawyers are paid a set amount for a limitless number of cases. These agreements lock attorneys and their clients in a financial conflict of interest where the lawyers’ fees are pitted against quality, zealous representation for those accused of crimes. Flat-fee systems have a well-documented history of providing worse representation and fueling mass incarceration and California has been called out, decade after decade, for allowing them to flourish. This report examines the actual contracts California counties use and finds that they are woefully deficient in providing necessary resources to private contractors in order for them to adequately represent their clients, they uniformly fail to limit the number of cases attorneys can handle at once, and they provide little to not oversight or supervision for the lawyers who defend people when their lives are on the line. We synthesize the decades of research from within the state and around the country that show these systems should be eliminated and recommend that California finally do just that.