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Cities across the United States have embarked on efforts to reimagine public safety with the overarching goal of rethinking the justice system's response to gun violence. Gun violence and the harm caused by the criminal justice system are not experienced equally. People of color are often the ones who endure the harm of both. It further alienates communities of color and leads to distrust in the legitimacy of the system, which extends to public defense. They feel disconnected from public defenders even though their role is to bring about more just outcomes for poor defendants. The fractured relationship compounds existing mistrust and leaves communities in a perpetual cycle of crime, violence, and incarceration.

During this webinar, you will hear results from a new report Reimagining Public Safety: Community Listening Sessions with Black Communities and Defenders. In this report, The Black Public Defenders Association, BlackRoots Alliance, Cook County Public Defender, and Northwestern University interviewed 100 Black Chicagoans about what they need to feel safe and thrive in the context of ever-present gun violence and examined their relationship with public defenders. The findings of this project aim to help policymakers, funders, activists, and community groups build sustainable public safety reforms built on a responsiveness to community needs, in Chicago and across the nation.

This webinar is sponsored by the Joyce Foundation and will feature panelists:

Mary Patillo, Harold Washington Professor of Sociology and Black Studies Chair, Department of Black Studies, Northwestern University

Gabby Green, Policy and Program Manager, BlackRoots Alliance

Takenya Nixon, Assistant Public Defender, Law Office of the Cook County Public Defender

Alaina Bloodworth, Executive Director, Black Public Defenders Association