Defending Public Justice with Lori James-Townes 🎙️🎧

In Fiscal Year 2021-22, public defenders reported that they were appointed to 521,377 cases (including re-opened cases) representing 431,519 clients. By one recent estimate, public defenders were appointed to over 520,000 cases in the United States, representing more than 400,000 clients. For many of these clients, those public defenders are potentially all that stands between them and prison. Now imagine you’re running the nonprofit that unites and works with public defenders across the U.S. That’s a position to be taken seriously. In addition to being the Executive Director of the National Association for Public Defense for almost three years, for 25 years, Lori James-Townes has been a leader in public advocacy and social justice. Now her focus is on helping public defenders across the land, and in correcting the ills of our social justice system. Why does America have more people in prison than any other nation in history? That’s just part of what she shares with us today on "That’s What C! Said."