NAPD 2024 Women's Virtual Conference

This presentation was created to educate and empower female Attorneys and Investigative professionals when work takes them into the field and community. Many potentially dangerous situations can be mitigated by taking different proactive measures to plan ahead for such encounters. A myriad of safety topics and techniques will be discussed ranging from analyzing potential threats to self-defense, including how to teach oneself easy ways to practice hypervigilance and threat assessment. The goal of this presentation is for attendees to feel empowered, having learned tangible tools they can utilize to protect themselves and avoid placing themselves or their staff in the way of danger, which will lead to a stronger sense of preparedness and better investigative effort outcomes.

This presentation will discuss the experiences and needs of justice-impacted Black women and girls and explore how an intersectional, gender-sensitive lens is critical to their defense. Black women and girls are disproportionately overrepresented among women and girls who are arrested and come in contact with the juvenile and criminal legal systems. Moreover, most of these women have long trauma histories and are survivors of sexual violence, including assault, abuse, and exploitation. Together, we will explore how race and gender bias construct unique vulnerabilities that heighten Black women's and girls' risk of criminalization and harsh punishment and how public defenders can more effectively address and support the needs of these clients.

This session, presented by a team of experts, who are survivors, advocates, criminal defense lawyers, and a mitigation specialist, centers on the power of stories, identifies the deficits, and shares practical tools to bridge the gender justice gaps. We will engage participants with the wisdom from lived expertise in fighting for criminalized women. We will share the Center’s research and insights on narrative deficits in defending women and provide participants with a series of practical gender justice tools for defense teams. We, at the Cornell Center on the Death Penalty Worldwide, created these tools to be applied for a practical gender justice approach in a wide range of capital and non-capital cases. As survivors, advocates, and former public defenders at the Cornell Center on the Death Penalty Worldwide, our work in narrative construction and intersectional gender justice is applicable to a wide range of cases – whether misdemeanors or felonies -- where women are criminalized. Our resources are free for the public defense community. We will complete our session with a closing round of reflections from our expert panel.

In this session, we will talk about the unique unmet needs of women in the carceral system and explore model practices and our collective experiences in meeting these needs. Bring your anecdotes, challenges, and ideas. Incarcerated women are a minority at many of our local jails and are treated like an afterthought. How can we, as defenders, put the spotlight on our female clients' dignity, humanity, and courage and demand that jailers provide appropriate housing, programming, and physical, emotional, and mental care?

This session will focus on Black women's role, necessity, and burden in death penalty mitigation work. We will discuss the empathy, care, understanding in mitigation, presumption, trauma, and burden we should perpetually consider and nurture.

A discussion of what we can do to be a great female leader and mentor in public defense. Many of us did not have such role models as we came up, and it is so important to do it right! This discussion will include leadership and mentorship (good v. bad, why, how to do it), the distinction of being female -- esp. in public defense, providing a safe, inclusive environment that offers true work/life balance, supporting physical and mental health needs so that our attorneys give the absolute best representation to our clients, growing a client-centered and holisitic office and balancing compassion with strength.

Revised and updated for 2024: We will discuss the trauma and stress public defender teams face, and their impact on us -  especially amidst local and political forces hostile to and undermining of our mission statements. We will also discuss various coping techniques for our well-being toolkit so that we might thrive, not just survive in this job; from the perspective of a 30-year public defender who still loves coming to work every day.

What can a talking cartoon dog teach us about how to be a good leader? Well, it turns out a lot actually. This session will cover how the best children's show ever made can give us tips on being growth focused and supportive leaders.

At this time, our office has 5 female attorneys and no male attorneys. While it is an exciting time, it comes with challenges. In dealing with judges, prosecutors, and even our clients we experience obstacles not shared by our male counterparts. This is particularly true in our rural, conservative area. In this presentation, we will discuss those challenges and how we overcome them in client meetings, in meetings with the prosecutors, and in the courtroom.

This session will propose a comprehensive mentorship program designed to empower young women across the country, with a specific focus on the legal sector. This initiative aims to address the critical need for positive role models and guidance in an era where societal pressures and social media often misdirect young women's focus and aspirations. We seek support from legal professionals, educators, and community leaders to bring this vital program to fruition.
By investing in our young women today, we are shaping a more equitable and just society for tomorrow.

Key Program Elements:

Legal Sector Exposure
Internship opportunities
Shadowing legal professionals
Interactive workshops on various legal career


Why It's Needed:

Lack of Positive Mentors: Many young women lack access to positive, professional female role models.
Social Media Influence: Increasing pressure to focus on superficial attributes rather than personal and professional growth.
Self-Esteem Challenges: Young women often struggle with self-esteem issues, impacting their career aspirations and life choices.
Limited Exposure: Many young women have limited exposure to diverse career paths, especially in the legal sector.

In this session, you'll learn how to build a comprehensive defense team for youth with no budget, through collaboration with community organizations and adults with lived experience.

In an era where understanding the nuanced experiences of marginalized communities is crucial, Haydeh Takasugi and Graciela Martinez offer an insightful exploration into the intersectional experiences of immigrant indigent defenders. Their presentation will delve into how their immigrant backgrounds have profoundly shaped their perceptions and practices within the California criminal legal system.

Managing up ... what does it mean? Is this a corporate management buzzword or something you could actually use? Come learn the ins and outs of a framework to help develop a stronger interpersonal relationship between you, your boss, and your coworkers - including learning how to manage expectations on all sides.

Despite years of trial work, both Autumn and Amanda suffer from imposter syndrome. In this seminar, they will discuss how to combat perfectionism by embracing our “weaknesses” to connect with our clients and our work. There will be a writing exercise too.