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54 UC Davis L. Rev. 1763 (2020-2021)
When the Public Defender Falls Short

handle is hein.journals/davlr54 and id is 1775 raw text is: UC DAVIS LAW REVIEW
When the Public Defender Falls
Short
Irene Oritseweyinmi Joe*
Chances are I'm going to be talking about something today that many
of you already know, either because you have firsthand knowledge of
the role that public defenders play in the criminal process or because
you've spent time critically thinking about how attorneys operate in a
criminal justice process that is clearly inequitable on many grounds, and
in particular, on race. But even though many of you may already know
this intuitively, the goal of my research and contribution to the legal
literature is to dive deeper into some of the current conversations that
we have about reforming the criminal justice system. I explore if some
of the things or the practices that attorneys engage in actually contribute
to the very racial inequities in the criminal process they may fight
against. I'm going to be talking about two strands of my research on this
subject. My comments might make you think about other issues, so I'm
Copyright © 2021 Irene Oritseweyinmi Joe. This is an edited version of Professor
Irene Joe's presentation at the University of California, Davis, School of Law, as part of
King Hall's Racial Justice Speaker Series. Many thanks to Dean Kevin Johnson and the
UC Davis School of Law Leadership for creating this Racial Justice Speakers Series.
Thank you also to the Law Review editors for their careful transcription of my words.
The inspiration for this talk comes from the many system-impacted people and public
defenders I have encountered in both my career as a law practitioner and legal academic.
My hope is that it can help animate a reimagination of the public defender institution
and serve as a source of encouragement for the many students pursuing racial justice
work through the practice of criminal law.

1763

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