Notable Recent Publications features the latest empirical research and data related to indigent/public defense. If you have suggestions, ideas for work that should be included, or trouble accessing any of the articles featured, please write to Venita Embry at vembry@rti.org.
Articles
Pruitt, L. R., Sherman, J., & Schwartz, J. (2025).
Legal Deserts and Spatial Injustice: A Study of Criminal Legal Systems in Rural
Washington. https://www.yalelawjournal.org/pdf/PruittShermanSchwartzYLJForumEssay_y5zjdvjy.pdf
While shortcomings in indigent defense nationally are well
documented, this Essay reveals what those deficits look like in rural contexts
in which the constitutionally mandated service is provided by attorneys who are
not only harried and overworked, but who also may be inexperienced and working
with scant oversight as contractors. The Essay also highlights new challenges
arising from the fact that contract attorneys doing this work increasingly live
far from their clients and appear only remotely in the courthouses (and,
indeed, even the counties) where their clients are. Deputy prosecutors, too,
are increasingly physically absent from rural courthouses. [shortened]
Smith, A. (2025). Stress and Public Criminal Defense:
Comparing Male and Female Defender Experiences and Coping Strategies. Idaho
L. Rev., 61, 1. https://heinonline.org/HOL/LandingPage?handle=hein.journals/idlr61&div=5&id=&page=
Little research has focused on stress and coping strategies among public defenders, and none compares the experiences of male and female defenders. As frontline workers, critical to the due process of law, understanding and eradicating stress is essential to their well-being and the fair treatment of defendants. Employing thematic analysis of public defenders' responses to open-ended questions, this study found gendered differences in how male and female defenders described their work motivations, challenges, and strategies for dealing with stress. Both male and female public defenders confront the stresses of injustice and heavy workloads. Female defenders, however, are more likely to experience gender discrimination and disrespect and the added stress of family and parenting responsibilities. Emotion-focused and recovery coping strategies were adopted far more often by public defenders than problem-focused approaches, but male defenders expressed psychologically detaching from work far more often than female defenders. The differences in male-female defender experiences and coping strategies, directions for future research, and the need for nuanced and distinct solutions for public defender stress are discussed.
Reports, Briefs, and Other Resources
What
Does the Research Tell Us About Counsel at First Appearance? | Rise 360
(Online Resource on Counsel at First Appearance Research) by Paul Heaton at
University of Pennsylania’s Quattrone Center.