‘Stop putting a knee on our clients’ necks!’ Public defenders call for justice reform

In 2018, Darrel Richards’ family notified his public defender, Quoc To, of erratic and worrisome changes in his behavior. Soon thereafter, To convinced Richards to receive appropriate mental health treatment during a conversation at the Sacramento County Courthouse.

“That conversation still haunts me,” To said, standing in front of that same courthouse nearly two years later. Within just a few weeks of its occurrence, Richards — a black man — was shot and killed by police during what To believes was a mental health crisis. According to To, people with untreated mental illness are 16 times more likely to die in this fashion. The situation was “exactly what I feared.”

“The pandemic has only highlighted health disparities plaguing black and brown communities that our clients come from, that we serve,” said To into a megaphone Monday. He addressed a sizable crowd of protesters, many of whom were clad in black business attire.

Sacramento public defenders marched around the courthouse Monday to demand justice for victims of police brutality. As workers intimately involved with the criminal justice system, many have borne witness to its problems firsthand.

At the head of the march was a large banner proclaiming “Black Lives Matter to Public Defenders”; the event concluded with an eight-minute, 46-second die-in in honor of George Floyd, who died beneath the knee of a white Minneapolis police officer.

“We have a justice system that has come to accept, all too often, the word of law enforcement in the court,” said Heather Williams before the rally. A public defender of over 30 years, she noted how her clients have mostly been people of color, and wants prosecutors and judges to recognize how much race influences who is brought into court the first place.

For Williams, much of the solution lies in reallocating funds away from police departments and back to the community resources that they’re taken from.

Jessie Morris, an assistant public defender, echoed her sentiment: “Stop putting a knee on our clients’ neck!”

Mark Slaughter, a supervising assistant public defender, told the crowd of racist remarks he’s had to endure. Once, a judge mistook his white client for the counsel, and him for the client; as a result, he used to always “walk into court apologizing.”

“I can’t leave part of me outside the courthouse,” Slaughter said of his blackness. “You have to have all of me.”

But as much as prosecutors, judges and juries require scrutiny, nonblack public defenders also have their fair share of work to do, protesters said. Amanda Benson, dhief assistant public defender, stood on a concrete block above the crowd and implored protesters to examine their own implicit biases.

According to Benson, black girls are seen as more mature than their white peers — a phenomenon that leads to harsher sentences. Public defenders should address the belief that “our clients of color are tougher and less in need of our protection,” she said.

As a first step, the Sacramento Public Defender’s Office plans to start an Equal Justice Committee, announced Slaughter. This initiative would include building relationships with marginalized communities, implementing comprehensive training on cultural sensitivity, and providing forums for people to voice their concerns, among other action items.

Allison Williams, also an assistant public defender, demanded protesters put more pressure on lawmakers to pass AB 1185 — a bill that would create a county oversight committee for police violence. “It’s still sitting on (state Sen. Kevin McCarty’s) desk,” she said. “I am tired of people being killed here in Sacramento by our local law enforcement officers. And the District Attorney is the one investigating!

To conclude her speech, Williams recited a poem she wrote.

“Will we as public defenders sit idly by, and watch our black men like Aubery and Floyd die?” she said. A roar of ‘no’ erupted from the crowd. “Rise up, defenders of the constitution! Rise up defenders, rise up against racist institutions!”

Her final lines were almost a shout.

“Criminal defense attorneys, take the lead,” Williams said. “So that there’ll be no more chants of ‘I can’t breathe!’”

This story was originally published June 9, 2020 at 7:33 AM.