TEDx Spokane Talk
Slide #1: As a
trial attorney, I love going to bat for my clients and my training as public
defender commends me to represent my clients and not causes.
Slide #2: The
story I am about to tell you however has little to do with trial advocacy. in
fact I found my path to career success outside of the courtroom. Few years ago,
I discovered that victory in court alone will not keep my clients out of jail.
I realized that in modern America it is better to be rich and guilty than poor
and innocent. This depressing state is where I found myself 4 years ago. No
thanks to the revolving doors of our criminal justice system.
Slide #3: Today,
however I wake up every day excited to go to work, but it wasn’t always that
way and I think sharing a little bit about my journey may probably inspire one
or two other people.
Slide #4: Everyone
here knows that winters in Spokane can be very brutal, especially around
Christmas. And for someone like me that grew up in tropical Africa, it is
particularly tough. It was one of those under 10 degrees days when Mike grabbed
my hand, jumping up and down: “Francis you saved my life! You got me out of
jail; I got a job as a janitor, got clean for a few weeks. I know I promised
you I won’t use drugs anymore but I did and I lost my job again. Now I am back
here at the homeless shelter. Please don’t give up on me!”
Slide #5: When
I looked around the faces of others huddled in blankets all around the room, I
see many of my clients, some of whom I recently got out of jail after a hard
won motion and trial advocacy. They are homeless, famished, with no hope and
nowhere to go.
Slide #6: When
Mike finally let go of me, my eyes caught something on the wall of the
transitioning shelter. It was the list of all the homeless people affiliated
with the shelter that died that year. When I drew closer, I found more than
half of the 12 people on that list are my clients. When inquired of the cause
of death for one of those posted on the notice board, an individual I believed
I got out of jail on pretrial motion victory, I was informed he died of
complications from frost bite and alcohol induced dementia.
Slide # 7: Guess
what crimes my clients often go to jail for? Simple misdemeanor offenses, something
we call quality of life crimes. In fact, one of the cases I represented Mike in
was for taking a bite of an apple at the 7/11 store. The value of the item: 78
cents!
Slide #8: Now,
get this, it cost a minimum of $120 per day to house people in jail. A colleague of mine once said that, it would
have been cheaper if we put jail inmates up in the most expensive hotel
downtown.
Slide #9: The
experience I had at that transitional shelter with Mike got seared into my
memory, as an immigrant from Africa, I believed no one should die they way my
client died, helpless without dignity, in the greatest nation on earth
Slide #10: As
Madiba Nelson Mandela rightly stated "overcoming poverty is not a gesture
of charity, it is an act of justice".
Slide #11: It
was such a joy then, when I got back to my office and discovered that a
collaborative team prosecutors, public defenders, the court and police officers
were putting together the first Spokane Community Court . I was happy to be part of the team. The team
made a deliberate choice to locate the court away from the courthouse to the
downtown library.
Slide #12: With
the help of our current police chief, we pulled the data and found facts that
confirm my suspicion that my clients were serving life sentences even though
they didn’t know it.
Slide #13: The
number of people of color and the poor in our county jail pre and post trial
compare to their population figures was also saddening.
Slide #14: We
also found that majority of my client suffers from mental health. In fact, Spokane county jail was then the only county
jail in the state to be licensed as a mental health provider with close to 46
suicide watch cells!
Slide #15: We
immediately began to work with Spokane County Medical Foundation and Spokane
City Human Services and Housing Authority making Spokane Community Court, one
of the few community courts in the nation to successfully connect the dots
between incarceration, poverty and health care.
Slide #16: The
Community of care providers strategically co-located with the court has since
assisted a hundred and forty three participants in obtaining housing, health
care, and mental health counseling. This continuum of care has changed many
lives by connecting my clients with nurses, doctors, and a place to live while
they resolve their criminal charges. In fact last Sunday, while shopping at our
local Costco, an elderly African America gentleman gave me a bear hug, and said
thank you, you helped me when my son suffers from addiction years ago. He's
doing well now. Thank you.
Slide #17: But
it wasn’t me but the community made it happened. There is a judge willing to
get the community involved in dispensing Justice, there are prosecutors willing
to stop counting their successes on how many convictions obtained annually. The
community of nurses, doctors, firemen, police officers, mental health
counselors, and social workers willing to leave the confines of their offices,
hospitals, churches, mosques and synagogues and meet people where they are at:
under the bridges and alleyways of our inner cities, landlords willing to rent
to people with criminal history, employers willing to give people with criminal
record a chance to prove their skills and dexterity by banning the box on
criminal record in employment application.
Slide #18: Now,
remember Mike, the gentleman that asked me not to give up on him on that
Christmas trip to the homeless shelter, he died a little while ago. But before
his death, he was housed again after living on the street for a long time, he
lived a good life and for more than 6 months while on weekly report to the
court lived well. His family stated that the time he spent after our
intervention was the best part of his life. His daughter was happy she finally
gets to hug her Dad before he passed away. Herein lies my joy, but we are not
there yet. The answer to low level quality of life crimes is going to take more
than a sob story from me.
Slide #19: We
need a community oriented criminal justice that cares for the poor, the
homeless, minorities and the marginalized. A court that is not run on the back of the
fines and fees paid by the poor. Today, we found more people come to Community
court to access services than those that come with a ticket and citations
Slide #20: You
too can become part of this great change, find the data on how many homeless
people live in your city. What is their race and ethnicity? How many routinely
get thrown in jail for quality of life crimes? What is your city or town doing
about it? What are you doing about it?
How did we
become the country with the highest incarceration rate in the world? if your
city or county has a Community Court near you, visit them to volunteer or just
go in to see things for yourself and while there, thank the volunteers who are
at the fore front of this struggle. If there are none in your neighborhood ask
why not?
Slide #21: To
stand a chance of overcoming the challenges we faced in America today, Access
to care has to meet access to justice. It's time we look into collaboration.
Slide #23: Yes,
the task ahead is daunting and unprecedented, but we limit ourselves when we
rely on what has been done before. But
as Dr. King once said, the long arc of moral universe bends towards true
justice.
Slide #24: And
when that happens, we will reap the benefits, save tax payers money and improve
quality of life of our fellow citizens. Thank you and please Join in!
