Participatory defense hubs are revolutionary, because the hubs gives the community the tools for transparency and accountability in our courtrooms. Keir Gray-Bradford Chief Defender of the Defenders Association Philadelphia introduced #ParticipatoryDefense to our city. We currently operate adult participatory justice hubs and will open a youth unit soon. The goals of a participatory defense hub is helping lawyers help their clients, their families & community understand the criminal justice system and defense process. In a participatory defense hub we learn what is expected through the court process and the defendant has support while in the courtroom. Access to community support and resources is the vital piece. For the community aka the village is vouching for the defendant character and look for the defendant to earn their trust.
When talking to your loved ones about interacting with police, please advise them not to give a statement to the police without an attorney present. I learned that the police only need a statement when they don’t have enough evidence to use against the defendant.
Also participatory defense hubs helps defendants understand being quite and letting the lawyers do their job is not being duked. Letting the attorney question witness early allows the attorney to record the evidence rather true or false, important to document without the defendant saying anything.
With a participatory defense hub in your community that you are involved with, if you suspect your loved ones are in jail you can call the Philadelphia Defenders Association and ask about your loved one. If they are in jail you can give the defender or attorney information about your love and get witness statements to the attorney right away. This shows the judge who the defendant is and that they have support.
To start a participatory defense hub in your community please reach out to Kavita Goyal 267.765.6782 kgoyal@philadefender.org
They are on Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn and Instagram .@PhillyDefenders #ParticipatoryDefense #PhillyDefenders
Pa Voter Court Watch 