Public Defenseless 90: In Order to Review Hours of Video Evidence, Public Defenders Need New Tech w/Devshi Mehrotra
In a good faith effort to hold police accountable, states and counties around the country started mandating that police wear body cameras at all times. When they or on or working, they offer a powerful source of evidence at the misconduct of officers. There is just one problem: With Public Defender Offices in crisis around the country, do they actually have the time to review hundreds of hours of video evidence in every case? That answer, for a long time, was no. That's where Justice Text, and our guest today come in.
As student at the University of Chicago, Devshi Mehrotra realized the inequities in our legal system following the murder of Laquan McDonald. As the Chicago community rallied for change, she wanted to help. Out of this desire the idea for Justice Text was born. On today's show, you will hear more about the creation of Justice Text, how it helps Public Defenders, and the role tech needs to take in helping balancing the scales between resources available to police, prosecutors, and Public Defenders.
Guest:
Resources:
Justice Text
Justice Text on Twitter
https://twitter.com/JusticeText
NY Times article on the disparity in access to tech across the legal system
https://www.nytimes.com/2019/11/22/business/law-enforcement-public-defender-technology-gap.html
NAPD Conference Sign Up
https://napd2023riseresistrepresent.sched.com/
Contact Hunter Parnell:
@PublicDefenselessPodcast
@PDefenselessPod