The Defender Initiative

Robert C. Boruchowitz
Director and Professor from Practice

The Defender Initiative began in 2008 and is an unusual law school-based project aimed at providing better representation for people accused of crimes and facing loss of their liberty in juvenile and other court proceedings and in the process increase fairness in and respect for the courts. The Initiative also advocates for diversion and reclassification of some misdemeanor offenses, including possession of marijuana and suspended driver license cases. This can save money, improve the misdemeanor courts and reduce racial disparity in the criminal justice system. The Initiative is part of the Fred T. Korematsu Center for Law and Equality, whose mission is to advance justice and equality through a unified vision that combines research, advocacy, and education.

The project, led by its Director, Robert C. Boruchowitz, will advance efforts to improve public defense representation for thousands of people in Washington and provide models for application in other states.

Through a combination of public education, research and writing, and strategic litigation, The Defender Initiative will focus on providing counsel in courts that do not currently provide lawyers and on reducing excessive defender workloads that threaten the effectiveness of the right to counsel, fostering a commitment to excellence in representation, and ensuring that defender lawyers with adequate resources are available and prepared to help accused persons at every stage of prosecution.

The first project of the initiative was a joint effort with the National Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers to conduct a comprehensive investigation of misdemeanor public defense in the United States. The Initiative hosted a second conference at the Open Society Institute of New York in May, 2008, and a second conference at Seattle University School of Law July 11, 2008. The project resulted in a report, "Minor Crimes, Massive Waste: The Terrible Toll of America's Broken Misdemeanor Courts," that found that misdemeanor courts across the country are wasting money and eroding the rights of the accused (See news release on the report).

The Initiative has received funding from the Foundation to Promote Open Society for a new misdemeanor counsel project, which is working to implement the right to counsel in misdemeanor courts by advocating administratively and if necessary by bringing targeted writs and appellate litigation to require courts to provide counsel to eligible accused persons, advocate for alternatives to traditional prosecution that requires counsel, and educate lawyers, judges, the public, and local government officials about the problem and demonstrate possible solutions.

Professor Boruchowitz filed a declaration in support of a petition for habeas corpus in the New Hampshire Supreme Court.  The declaration outlines the failure of the Manchester District Court to comply with requirements to provide counsel at arraignments in misdemeanor hearings. 

Bob Boruchowitz contributed an article in the King County Bar Association March 2011 Bar Bulletin entitled, Defenders Spread Thin by Budget Crunch.

The Defender Initiative held its First Annual Defender Conference Friday, February 25, 2011. Please see the schedule and list of speakers and conference materials. Tom Hillier, Federal Defender for the Western District of Washington, was the keynote speaker.

Professor Boruchowitz spoke at the 2nd Annual Texas Indigent Defense Summit March 1, 2011, on "How Alternatives to Incarceration and Re-classification of Misdemeanors Can Save Texas Money."

Professor Boruchowitz spoke at the "Why Lawyers Matter" Conference at the University of Illinois College of Law March 3, 2011.

Professor Boruchowitz spoke at the Washington District and Municipal Court Judges Association Conference in Ocean Shores, June 7, 2011, on CrRLJ 4.1,The Right to Counsel, and the Impact on Court Budgets.

The Initiative hosted a continuing education seminar on November 6, 2009 entitled, "Why there should be lawyers in misdemeanor first appearances: What they should do for their clients and how to get resources to hire them." The event was well attended and evaluations were strong. Conference materials are available, as well as powerpoint presentations from Prof. Boruchowitzand Sophia Byrd McSherry.

Professor Boruchowitz presented a Webinar entitled, "The Defender Initiative's Counsel at Arraignment Project: Building on Our Success," for The Washington Defender Association about the Misdemeanor Counsel project and the right to counsel at arraignment, on January 22, 2010.

Professor Boruchowitz was quoted in the San Jose Mercury News on December 29, 2009 article, "Santa Clara County Defendants Face Misdemeanor Hobson's Choice: Plead guilty or wait longer in jail." He was also a guest on King County Prosecutor Dan Satterberg's cable television show, "Prosecutor's Post," which is on Cable Channel 22.

On June 5, 2010, his article "Citizen's Voice: Public defenders underfunded in Tennessee" was published in knoxnews.com.

On June 11, 2010, the Korematsu Center and the Defender Initiative sponsored a CLE on "Ethics and Effectiveness of Practice in Treatment Courts" at the Seattle University School of Law.

Professor Boruchowitz wrote a blog On Public Defenders and Excessive Caseloads on July 10, 2010 as a guest blogger for CrimProf Blog, a member of the Law Professor Blogs Network.

On October 27, 2010, the Tacoma News Tribune published an op-ed by Robert Boruchowitz and Neil Fox entitled, "HJR 4220 goes too far in response to tragic Lakewood police murders," criticizing proposed Washington constitutional amendment on bail as going too far.

In December, 2010, the American Constitution Society published an article by Professor Boruchowitz, Diverting and Reclassifying Misdemeanors Could Save $1 Billion per Year: Reducing the Need For and Cost of Appointed Counsel (American Constitution Society, 2010).

The Defender Initiative has filed amicus curiae briefs in trial courts in two truancy cases, one in Snohomish County on an issue of competency, and one in Chelan county on issues related to sufficiency of the petition and of the evidence presented. Both cases were dismissed without the court reaching the issues in the briefs.