Black Public Defender Association Statement on the conviction of William Bryan and Travis and Gregory McMichaels
Washington (November 29, 2021) – The Black Public Defender Association Executive Director & Board Chair Heather Pinckney issued the following statement in response to the conviction of William Bryan and Travis and Gregory McMichaels in the murder of Ahmaud Arbery:
Our thoughts are with the family and loved ones of Ahmaud Arbery. We hope the verdict brings them some peace and starts the beginning of some form of closure.
Like most of America, Black Defenders spent the entire trial wondering if yet again, the system would find a way to devalue the loss of another Black man’s life. Most waited nervously, questioning if this jury would see how tragic, unnecessary and unwarranted his murder was. As the guilty verdict was announced and many breathed a small sigh of relief, most people who truly know this system again remembered that this conviction would still not produce justice or systemic change.
In order to stop the hateful and unnecessary killing of Black people, we must continue to root out those that are vested in white supremacy. The actions of the convicted murderers on that day were a continued manifestation of decades of racist ways that continue to bleed into everyday society. These men felt emboldened, justified and protected in their actions because segments of society encourage and relish in the killing of Black people for doing anything that doesn’t fit into their definition of “following the rules”.
To gain true justice and save Black lives, we must continue to acknowledge the evil that lives among us and fight to destroy the policies that allow individuals like those convicted to engage in racist, government-supported and sanctioned actions, like citizens arrest. Only by fighting to dismantle carceral systems and ending generations of racist laws and policies that target and harm Black communities, can we ever reach true justice for all.
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The Black Public Defender Association aims to improve the quality of defense provided to low-income communities across the United States by creating and maintaining a national network of skilled Black public defenders that identify with and are committed to the populations they serve.
Black Public Defender Association Statement on the Kyle Rittenhouse Verdict
Washington (November 23, 2021) – The Black Public Defender Association Executive Director & Board Chair Heather Pinckney issued the following statement in response to the Kyle Rittenhouse verdict:
“The Kyle Rittenhouse verdict serves as a reminder that a system will never fail those that it was designed to protect.
The American criminal legal system was built for individuals like Kyle. The system provided him coverage, protection, and impunity from his vigilante shooting spree on August 25, 2020.
From the moment he stepped into that Courtroom, the jury chose to see Kyle as an innocent, vulnerable young victim. They ignored his traveling across state lines, his carrying of assault rifles, and his interjection in a protest that had nothing to do with him. This luxury of presumed innocence is never afforded to Black and Brown clients, who instead are viewed as dangerous, aggressive, and consistently violent. Kyle Rittenhouse was given the privilege to walk toward police with a rifle in his hand, while everyday Black men and women are shot for daring to even put their hands up. In the end, the jury chose to believe that his coming to the state of Wisconsin, armed and confrontational, and then murdering two people and injuring one, was justified.
This verdict once again shows that the criminal legal system consistently enforces white supremacy. We must break up and dismantle the system for racial justice to prevail. “
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The Black Public Defender Association aims to improve the quality of defense provided to low-income communities across the United States by creating and maintaining a national network of skilled Black public defenders that identify with and are committed to the populations they serve.
Black Public Defender Association Statement on the Derek Chauvin Verdict
Washington (April 20, 2021) – The Black Public Defender Association released the following statement in response to the verdict in the Derek Chauvin case:
“Our thoughts are with the family and loved ones of George Floyd. We hope the verdict brings them some peace.
As Black defenders, we bear witness to the assaults inflicted on our clients, most of whom will never be known nationally by name. We know intimately that a conviction does not produce justice or systemic change. To protect Black lives, we must reduce the scope and power of police now. We must also hold prosecutors and other system actors who work in concert with police accountable for sustaining a system off of the backs of Black, Latinx, and poor people.
A single conviction is not enough. We need to transform the meaning of public safety to ensure that the needs of Black communities are at the forefront.
As Black defenders, we will continue to fight to dismantle carceral systems that target and harm Black communities.“
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The Black Public Defender Association aims to improve the quality of defense provided to low-income communities across the United States by creating and maintaining a national network of skilled Black public defenders that identify with and are committed to the populations they serve.
BPDA Statement on Why Anti-Racism Must be the End Goal of Justice System Reform
BPDA fully supports the sentiments expressed in Philadelphia's Chief Defender Keir Bradford-Grey’s op-ed.
Washington (Nov. 10, 2020) – BPDA issued the following statement today on why anti-racism must be the end goal of “progressive” prosecution and systemic justice reform in our country. We fully support the sentiments expressed in Philadelphia’s Chief Defender Keir Bradford-Grey’s op-ed “Justice system reform is impotent unless you eliminate racist practices” published by WHYY.org yesterday.
“Over the past four years, millions of dollars have gone towards electing and positioning “progressive” prosecutors as the leaders of criminal legal reform. Unfortunately, prosecutors – progressive or not – are not always the champions for Black, brown, and low-income people who continue to be targeted and oppressed by the system that prosecutors fight to uphold. High conviction rates rooted in racial bias remain a marker for their success, and many continue to push policies that do not scratch the surface of mass incarceration.
Major donors and foundations that are pushing the “progressive” prosecutor movement should ensure that prosecutors commit to anti-racist practices. It is essential that prosecutors are able to recognize when they are treating behaviors as crimes solely based on who is committing the behaviors.
The Black Public Defender Association believes that resources that are used to push the “progressive” prosecutor movement should be reallocated towards properly funding community based solutions and public defender offices who are committed to racial equity with a focus on increasing the number of Black public defenders across the nation as they are the ones with both professional and personal experience on the ground fighting every day to end mass incarceration and systemic racism in the criminal legal system.”
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The Black Public Defender Association aims to improve the quality of defense provided to low-income communities across the United States by creating and maintaining a national network of skilled Black public defenders that identify with and are committed to the populations they serve.
BPDA Statement on the Decision Not to Indict the Louisville Police Officers for the Killing of Breonna Taylor
WASHINGTON (Sep 25, 2020) – The Black Public Defender Association extends our heartfelt condolences to Breonna Taylor’s family, friends, and loved-ones.
Wednesday’s announcement of the grand jury’s decision to not indict the Louisville police officers for the killing of Breonna Taylor is unsurprising but still deeply painful for Black America. The grand jury’s announcement, which was made on the 65th anniversary of the acquittal of Emmett Till’s murderers, is a reminder that the criminal legal system is incapable of holding itself or others accountable for inflicting violence on Black communities. The police officers that killed Breonna Taylor in her home are representative of a criminal legal system that is racist, anti-Black, and a linchpin of white supremacy. To pursue true justice for Black America, we must dismantle the violent and racist system that killed Breonna Taylor and allowed the officers to avoid accountability.
We stand in solidarity with the public defenders in Kentucky who are fighting to free their clients from the claws of the criminal legal system.
BPDA also joins national calls for the transcripts of the grand jury proceedings to be released.
BPDA and CJR issue new joint report on the impact of COVID-19 on incarcerated people, and the larger Black community
Save Black Lives takes a deep dive into the impact of COVID-19 and incarceration in Black communities through the lens of Black defenders and researchers.
WASHINGTON (August 5, 2020)– The Black Public Defender Association and the Center for Justice Research at Texas Southern University today released “Save Black Lives: A Call for Racially-responsive Strategies and Resources for the Black Community during the COVID-19 Pandemic,” a comprehensive report that details why public health responses and strategies to address COVID-19 must be centered around race and the criminal legal system.
“When the system fails to acknowledge the role that race is playing in the COVID-19 pandemic and develop racially equitable responses, greater harm is inflicted on the Black community, which is being devastated by this disease,” said April Frazier Camara, Co-Founder and Chair of Black Public Defender Association.
Black people are being infected and dying from COVID-19 at alarming rates and they are also overrepresented in carceral systems that increase their risk of exposure to this deadly virus. The report shows that race-neutral responses to the pandemic within the criminal legal system are ineffective, and how they cause harm to Black communities.
“This report unpacks the nested structural reality of racial injustice, disciplinary bias, and the lack of attention directed at the practical needs of the historically disenfranchised,” said Howard Henderson, Founding Director of the Center for Justice Research.
Solutions to COVID-19 within the criminal legal system should be developed with the expertise of Black public defenders and justice-oriented researchers, who are closest to the problem of mass incarceration and this pandemic.
Key findings and recommendations in the report:
Race-neutral advocacy in criminal legal and public health systems is harmful to Black lives. The first reporting of COVID-19 was presented under the guise of underlying health conditions and age, which soon had race-specific realities. Similarly, much of the advocacy around protecting people in prison has been race-neutral, even though Black people are over represented in carceral systems, and once released, will likely return to communities that are COVID-19 hotspots.
Black public defenders and Black researchers play a critical role in advancing equitable policy solutions to the COVID-19 pandemic within the criminal legal system. As members of a community impacted most severely by COVID-19 and incarceration, their voices are critical to developing culturally-responsive solutions, instead of blanket policies and research findings that fail to account for race or engage the Black community.
The COVID-19 crisis presents an opportunity to fight for decarceration measures that address and reduce racial disparities in the criminal legal system.
Decarceration must be coupled with effective reentry support and services. The overrepresentation of Black people in prisons and jails, combined with the alarmingly high rates of infections and deaths in the general Black population, shows the importance of proper reentry support to prevent the additional spread of this deadly disease. Policymakers have a responsibility to ensure reentry programs are adequately funded because the safety and health of people returning home from prisons and jails, and their communities, depend on it.
The COVID-19 crisis has highlighted that mass incarceration is a public health concern, and even more so, that we need to shift the traditional punishment paradigm of the criminal legal system to the more established approaches of public health and interdisciplinary perspectives for reducing social problems that often cause people to commit crimes.
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The Black Public Defender Association aims to improve the quality of defense provided to low-income communities across the United States by creating and maintaining a national network of skilled Black public defenders that identify with and are committed to the populations they serve.
The Center for Justice Research is committed to creating justice reform-oriented solutions for the reduction of mass incarceration by connecting and applying academic thought to practical challenges. As a university-level research center, the Center for Justice Research provides a culturally responsive approach to mass incarceration and to criminal justice reform. Our targeted research advances data-driven solutions by supporting innovation, collecting committed reformers, compelling policy arguments and engendering broad consensus amongst community stakeholders.
BPDA Statement on Remarks Made by Suffolk County District Attorney Rachael Rollins
Rollins slams the public defense community in an effort to raise issues of race and privilege in the public defender offices.
Washington (May 12, 2020) – The Black Public Defender Association issued the following statement today in response to Suffolk County District Attorney Rachael Rollins comments made during a live interview on WGBH-FM radio show. Rollins called public defenders “overwhelmingly privileged,” and chastised them for not returning client calls and complaining about being overworked.
“Reform-minded prosecutors do not have the standing or credibility to speak publicly on the plight of public defenders or Black, brown and poor people that have been disproportionately targeted by the unjust criminal legal system. As prosecutors their primary responsibility is to prosecute accused people, and this role should not be confused or conflated with the role of defenders.
“While DA Rollins’ comments were problematic for several reasons, there are some systemic concerns that she raises about public defender offices that are worthy of discussion. We agree, systematic racism is prevalent in every part of the criminal legal system –even in public defender offices, and they need to do more to hire and promote black defenders to represent accused people who are often Black or Brown.
As Black public defenders, we know that public defender offices are grossly underfunded, and the lack of funding drives the injustices against our clients and the ability of defender offices to attract and to retain black defenders. And, without developed and supported Black advocates, defender offices will not be able to lead the charge against harmful biases and challenging cultural norms which will be necessary to beat back the behemoth that is the racist criminal legal system.”
Black Public Defenders Association Statement on Chicago Tribune Story on Bail Funds
Washington (May 7, 2020) – The Black Public Defender Association issued the following statement in response to a recent Chicago Tribune story on Bail Funds:
“We’re deeply disturbed that two organizations that were created to level the playing field are under attack for helping Black and Brown people post bail. Here again, another Willie Horton style fear mongering by tough-on-crime proponents who clearly don’t care that access to money is used to unjustly keep Black and Brown people in jail. It is rare that questions are raised when a wealthy person is bailed out of jail by a family member, but when charities provide people without the means an opportunity to purchase their freedom, there is backlash.
It is irresponsible for the article to not also report that 91% of the people that the Chicago Community Bond Fund has paid bond for returned to court, and completed their case without being rearrested. News outlets should focus their attacks on the broken criminal legal system that has repeatedly and unsuccessfully used excessive punishment as its only means to achieve public safety.
Black Public Defender Association Statement on Bail Reform in New York
(February 12, 2020)
“Let’s call it what it is – classic fear-mongering by tough-on-crime proponents – who refuse to admit that money is used to unfairly keep Black and Brown people locked in cages. It is the same tactic used across the nation to stop progressive criminal justice legislation aimed at ending mass incarceration. For decades, cash-bail criminalized poverty, destroyed lives and made New York’s Black and Brown communities less safe. New York took the right step towards righting decades of wrongs by leading the charge to become a national model for progressive pre-trial justice reformfor states across the country. We strongly urge the New York legislature to protect the new pretrial justice reforms which combat race- and wealth-based pre-trial detention, keeping New York on the path towards a more fair and equitable criminal legal system.”
