Early and Continuous Access to Counsel to Improve the Quality of Justice in Virginia

Session Submission Type: Complete Thematic Panel

Abstract/Description

This thematic panel will highlight innovative research and a robust community engagement campaign within Virginia designed to inform policy and practice around quality public defense representation, counsel at first appearance, and pretrial release decisions. Panelists will present learnings from this multi-faceted project including the co-design and implementation experiences of the early and continuous access to counsel (ECAC) pilot, early findings from the randomized controlled trial of the ECAC pilot which will test the effect of ECAC on pretrial outcomes, and learnings from the community engagement campaign that features a rigorous policy analysis using Virginia’s Pretrial Data Project data and listening sessions with people with lived experience with pretrial detention and defense counsel.

Sub Unit

• Area VI. The Criminal Justice System / 43. Pretrial Justice

Individual Presentations

• Behind the Scenes: Lessons Learned in Providing Early Access to Counsel in Virginia - Venita Embry, RTI International; Debbie Dawes, RTI International; Alan Barnosky, RTI International; Christopher Scott Inkpen, RTI International; Bonnie Hoffman, National Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers

• Pilot Evaluation of the Early and Continuous Access to Counsel Public Defense Intervention - Christopher Scott Inkpen, RTI International; Debbie Dawes, RTI International; Alan Barnosky, RTI International; Venita Embry, RTI International

• Pretrial Justice in Virginia: What Light Can the New Pretrial Data Project Microdata Shed? - Ariel BenYishay, William & Mary

• Listening to Impacted Communities: Insights to Inform Virginia’s Pretrial System - Monica Reid, National Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers; Bonnie Hoffman, National Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers