Longtime civil rights lawyer Stephen Hanlon works from his St. Louis home office Dec. 15, 2022. Hanlon has 55 years of legal experience and leads a national public defense reform effort. He envisions a system in which all people accused of crimes can get attorneys who have time to represent them effectively. He hopes change starts with an upcoming "watershed moment."
Longtime civil rights attorney Stephen Hanlon works from his St. Louis home office Dec. 15, 2022. His desk is flanked by a 16th century lawyer Thomas More portrait and a remembrance of a 1923 Rosewood Massacre family's reparations Hanlon worked to get awarded.
Stephen Hanlon was Holland & Knight firm’s pro bono partner for 23 years before starting his firm, Lawyer Hanlon. He represented Black school children in a '70s lawsuit challenging Florida's "Functional Literacy Test." The children called him "Lawyer Hanlon."
Lee Wachocki, a Multnomah Defenders Inc. attorney and union president, speaks to supporters outside a meeting to address a severe Oregon public defender shortage June 16, 2022, in Salem. Wachocki stresses immediate action and additional resources to relieve the public defense crisis.
Lee Wachocki, left, a Multnomah Defenders Inc. attorney and union president, and Hank Fulwiler, a Marion County public defender office law clerk show signs to drivers passing the Public Safety Academy June 16, 2022 in Salem. Lawmakers, judicial system members and public defense group representatives inside the academy discuss solutions for a public defense crisis that has overwhelmed attorneys and left defendants without counsel.
Caitlin Boland Aarab, a Great Falls, Montana criminal defense attorney, takes public defense cases on contract for the state. One of her clients who is homeless was cited 23 times in two months for low-level offenses, slowing down the justice system for a man she says was "just existing."
Private attorney Samir Aarab speaks with one of his incarcerated clients before her initial court appearance in Great Falls, Montana in October. Aarab typically accepts 30 to 60 cases on contract from the public defenders office. Limited public defense resources, he said, slow the justice process. "All the cogs of the system have to turn at the same speed, so we all turn at the slowest speed,� Aarab said. “If you’re one of those people who don’t care about criminals ... then that’s just one cog. All the others have to slow down because of it."
Editor's note:Â This story is part of 'Broken Defense,' an investigative series from Lee Enterprises. More details about this project can be found at the bottom of this article.Â
Longtime civil rights lawyer Stephen Hanlon works from his St. Louis home office Dec. 15, 2022. Hanlon has 55 years of legal experience and leads a national public defense reform effort. He envisions a system in which all people accused of crimes can get attorneys who have time to represent them effectively. He hopes change starts with an upcoming "watershed moment."
Longtime civil rights attorney Stephen Hanlon works from his St. Louis home office Dec. 15, 2022. His desk is flanked by a 16th century lawyer Thomas More portrait and a remembrance of a 1923 Rosewood Massacre family's reparations Hanlon worked to get awarded.
Stephen Hanlon was Holland & Knight firm’s pro bono partner for 23 years before starting his firm, Lawyer Hanlon. He represented Black school children in a '70s lawsuit challenging Florida's "Functional Literacy Test." The children called him "Lawyer Hanlon."
Lee Wachocki, a Multnomah Defenders Inc. attorney and union president, speaks to supporters outside a meeting to address a severe Oregon public defender shortage June 16, 2022, in Salem. Wachocki stresses immediate action and additional resources to relieve the public defense crisis.
Lee Wachocki, left, a Multnomah Defenders Inc. attorney and union president, and Hank Fulwiler, a Marion County public defender office law clerk show signs to drivers passing the Public Safety Academy June 16, 2022 in Salem. Lawmakers, judicial system members and public defense group representatives inside the academy discuss solutions for a public defense crisis that has overwhelmed attorneys and left defendants without counsel.
Private attorney Samir Aarab speaks with one of his incarcerated clients before her initial court appearance in Great Falls, Montana in October. Aarab typically accepts 30 to 60 cases on contract from the public defenders office. Limited public defense resources, he said, slow the justice process. "All the cogs of the system have to turn at the same speed, so we all turn at the slowest speed,� Aarab said. “If you’re one of those people who don’t care about criminals ... then that’s just one cog. All the others have to slow down because of it."
Caitlin Boland Aarab, a Great Falls, Montana criminal defense attorney, takes public defense cases on contract for the state. One of her clients who is homeless was cited 23 times in two months for low-level offenses, slowing down the justice system for a man she says was "just existing."
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