New Orleans Saints Lineback and Players Coalition member, Demario Davis, will host a Town Hall discussion, Tuesday, November 5 from 3-5pm at Corpus Christi Church, about the critical role of public defense in our justice system and the immediate need for equitable funding for OPD.
Demario will sit down with OPD's Chief Defender Derwyn Bunton, Chief of Trials Danny Engelberg and Client Advocate Derwyn Bunton, as well as Voice of the Experienced's Executive Director Norris Henderson and Premal Dharia, Executive Director of the Defender Impact.
“There are times that OPD is so underfunded lawyers had to refuse cases and waitlist people because it could no longer provide each person with the constitutional right to effective assistance of counsel. When OPD is starved of the resources it needs, the city is guaranteeing that there will be no justice. This must change if our promise of liberty means anything." - Demario Davis
We claim to believe in equal justice for all, yet in New Orleans we chronically underfund our public defenders, who are the backstop of our criminal legal system. It's time to end that. The Town Hall on public defender funding in New Orleans will discuss why it's time to make the representation of our most vulnerable a priority.
The Town Hall is free and open to the public. For more information and to register, visit the Players Coalition Forum.
