If a member of your family was arrested, would you know how to help? Would you know what to look for in a police report? Or guide your relative about what to expect from the defense attorney?
For a wide swath of Americans, these are not hypothetical questions. More than 2.3 million people are in prisons and jails, and 5 million are on parole or probation. More astonishingly, nearly one-third of Americans have been arrested on criminal charges(other than a minor traffic violation) by age 23.
Particularly in inner cities, it’s prudent for Americans to understand how the justice system works. (Watch this impassioned TED talk by a young sociologist, Alice Goffman). The question is: How can communities better prepare for the crisis of an arrest — so they can act more effectively in the defense of family, friends or neighbors?
That question is being addressed by a nascent, but growing, “participatory defense” movement — community organizing that empowers people who face charges, as well as family and community members, to influence the judicial process. It shows them how to work strategically with defense attorneys and how to make the system easier to understand and more accountable.
[For more of this story, written by David Bornstein, go to http://opinionator.blogs.nytim...r-day-in-court/?_r=0]
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