New Orleans – Derwyn Bunton will be stepping down as Chief District Defender for New Orleans. Bunton announced he is stepping down later this year in a meeting with OPD staff, and in conversation with Michael Ginart, Chairperson of the Louisiana Public Defender Board and Rémy Starns, State Public Defender. Bunton has served as Chief Defender for 13 years, taking over leadership in 2009, following significant statewide reforms in public defense and a complete reformation of OPD post-Katrina. Bunton leaves to become Chief Legal Officer for the Southern Poverty Law Center.
“Leading the Orleans Public Defenders has been the greatest professional privilege of my life. I was blessed with the honor of leading OPD over these many years, fighting alongside our extraordinary staff, clients, and community. We have worked to not only protect peoples’ constitutional rights, but also hold power accountable, and advocate for dignity, justice and hope in a wholly unjust criminal legal system. New Orleans is better because of the passion, perseverance and fortitude of our attorneys, investigators, advocates, social workers, administrators and volunteers. I leave knowing more than ever, OPD is committed to our mission and is a force for positive change.”
In reflecting on his tenure, Bunton said he is incredibly proud of radically increasing and improving the level of representation low income New Orleanians – mostly Black and brown – receive when hauled into the criminal legal system. He has also worked tirelessly to shift the way public defense is viewed, and change the narrative around public safety and the intersections of the criminal legal system and poverty, trauma, oppression and injustice.
“OPD has grown from a handful of committed attorneys and administrators into a visionary organization fighting for fairness, equity, and justice. The ordinary and extraordinary injustices of our criminal legal system still exist, but I am proud to have stood in the way, causing good trouble, challenging those injustices – whether in the courtroom, on the street, at City Hall or in the State Capitol,” said Bunton.
Following a complete breakdown of the criminal legal system in the wake of Hurricane Katrina, the Louisiana Public Defender Act of 2007 created a more unified public defender system for Louisiana. Bunton became Chief Defender in 2009, and alongside staff and community, grew OPD from a part-time office of appointed private attorneys, to the community-oriented, client-centered office it is today – dedicated to the zealous representation of New Orleanians. OPD represents approximately 20,000 New Orleanians each year, and is one of just a few full-time public defender offices in Louisiana comprised of attorneys, investigators, advocates, social workers and administrators. Once deemed unconstitutional by the Department of Justice, OPD has been recognized by the National Legal Aid and Defender Association as one of the best public defender offices in the country.
Under Bunton’s leadership, OPD demonstrated the critical impact a dedicated public defender office can have in the criminal legal system and community and the power of holistic, community-led representation. While there is still much work to be done, OPD has moved closer to upholding the American Bar Association standards and called attention to exorbitant, and problematic, workloads public defenders across the country continue to face.
In the last 15 years, Bunton cemented OPD as an integral part of the community, spearheaded innovative programming and advocacy, and fought to make New Orleans a national leader in criminal legal system reform with the establishment of funding parity between public defense and the district attorney. Bunton’s steadfast commitment to funding and resource parity was fueled by the persistent inequities between law enforcement and prosecution, and the Sixth Amendment right to adequate representation. In 2009, OPD was not included in the city budget; now, OPD is guaranteed equitable funding, 85% of the appropriation allocated to the DA.
Bunton said at the time: “This is truly a monumental moment and the result of years of fighting for fairness for our clients and community. It is also a testament to the immense perseverance of our clients and community who have long called for a fairer and more just legal system. They know firsthand the effects of an underfunded and out-resourced public defender. They were the catalyst for this change and we are proud to fight alongside them for equity and fairness.”
Bunton has spent the entirety of his legal career advocating and fighting for the rights of vulnerable and marginalized communities. Prior to OPD, Bunton was the Executive Director of Juvenile Regional Services (JRS), the first standalone juvenile defender office in the nation and the first non-profit law office devoted to juvenile justice reform and front-line representation of children. As a young attorney, he was part of the team to sue the state of Louisiana over the conditions of its juvenile prisons, resulting in the closure of the Tallulah Correctional Center for Youth. Immediately post-Katrina, Bunton worked with a group of advocates and lawyers working to locate and reunite youth and adults scattered across Louisiana after being trapped by the floodwaters in the Orleans Parish Prison and finally evacuated to various DOC facilities.
Bunton will depart OPD in the fall and the Louisiana Public Defender Board will conduct recruitment for his replacement.
