ACS At-Large: Courtroom Successes During the COVID-19 Crisis: Constitutional Victories in a Time of Pandemic

Life changed for all of us in March 2020. Jury trials came to a halt in many places because of COVID-19, and in others the composition of juries changed noticeably, becoming younger and whiter. At the same time, the risk of serious illness or complications from COVID-19 quickly became dramatically higher for incarcerated people, who are unable to minimize the risk of COVID-19 through social distancing because of their imprisonment. Unique criminal justice issues have been and will continue to be presented by the pandemic—but creative lawyers have seized opportunities created by the unprecedented circumstances and have achieved significant victories vindicating the constitutional rights of their clients. Join the At-Large, Austin, Bay Area, Chicago, DC, Los Angeles, Orange County, and Oregon Lawyer Chapters for a panel that will address successful strategies for obtaining the release of incarcerated people during the pandemic and challenges to whether pandemic-era juries represent a fair cross section of the community.

Featuring:

Ian Mance, Staff Attorney, Emancipate North Carolina

Sam Weiss, Founder and Executive Director, Rights Behind Bars

Emily Coward, Project Attorney, Racial Equity Network Project, University of North Carolina School of Government

Tim Henderson, Assistant Public Defender, Defender District 28—Buncombe County 

Moderated by: 

Phil Dixon, Jr., Defender Educator, Public Defense Education, University of North Carolina School of Government