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>View discussions about this entry Country: United States
Organization: Friends of Justice
Focus of activity - Oversight/Accountability
Year the initative began (yyyy) - 2000
Positioning in the Mosaic of solutions
Description of initiative - What is the main focus (products, services, etc.) of your initiative and how does it contribute to ending corruption? What avenues of corruption are you primarily addressing? What activities does it involve for your organization? Who are your primary beneficiaries and target groups? The main focus of Operation Blind Justice is restoring due process protections to low-status defendants in the United States. Our work was inspired by a massive drug sting in the little West Texas town of Tulia on July 23rd, 1999. Forty-seven men and women, thirty-nine of them African American, were rounded up in pre-dawn raids. The only evidence of narcotics violations was the uncorroborated word of a single white undercover officer with a checkered history and a reputation for racism and dishonesty. Friends of Justice, a local collaboration of Protestant pastors, farmers, school teachers, and defendants and their families, challenged the fairness of the sting and the prosecutions flowing from it. Eventually, we were able to attract the involvement of a wide variety of allies in the advocacy field (NAACP, ACLU, etc.), media attention, and the investment of highly regarded pro bono attorneys. Eventually, the victims of this corrupt drug sting were pardoned by Texas governor, Rick Perry, and the use of uncorroborated testimony in narcotics cases came under widespread scrutiny. In the process, the criminal justice system in the state of Texas was subjected to widespread scrutiny--a process that is still ongoing. Friends of Justice realized that what happened in Tulia was reflected a national problem: the push for mass incarceration, beginning in the 1980s, has created an environment in which low-status defendants receive grossly inadequate legal representation. Prosecutors are frequently able to gain convictions (or plea bargains) on the basis of incredibly thin evidence. Friends of Justice is the only group in America who intervenes on behalf of low-status defendants in essentially evidence-free prosecutions at the pre-trial level. We are effective because we work outside the normal legal processes, constructing counter-narratives which provide defendants with a face, a faith, a family and a future. In the process the rights of citizenship are restored.
Innovation - How does your approach differ from existing programs in the field? Which components of your initiative are particularly novel or unique (e.g. the products and services, the technology used, the delivery or financing mechanism)? It is commonly believed that attorneys, high-profile advocacy groups and the media provide a sufficient counter-balance to unethical prosecution. In reality, low-status defendants are almost always represented by court appointed attorneys who can only earn a decent salary by pleaing out cases at the earliest opportunity. Cases involving low-status defendants are rarely researched and the possibility of defendant innocence is rarely considered by defense counsel. High-profile advocacy groups like the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People or the American Civil Liberties Union rarely intervene for low-status defendants at the pre-trial stage. These groups are looking for cases with high-impact potential. This generally translates into waiting for cases to arise in which actual innocence can be proven. The cancerous growth of the American prison population, however, is driven by low-level narcotics cases punishable by ever more draconian sentences. The typical defendant in these cases can expect little help from established advocacy organizations. Finally, the American media has little interest in low-status defendants unless actual innocence is demonstrable. The fact that low-status defendants are being stripped of due process protections with the result that the potential for wrongful conviction of the innocent has skyrocketed is not perceived as a major problem by the media. Because it thrives on conflict, however, the media will cover cases in which an offical prosecutorial narrative of suspicion relying on widespread stereotypes and bias is challenged by a thoroughly researched counter-narrative focusing attention on the inadequacies of the prosecution's case and the humanity of the defendant(s). Friends of Justice multiplies the effectiveness of the counter-narratives we produce by creating a stage on which low-status defendants can "perform their rectitude". Our approach is effective because it works outside established systems.
Delivery Model - How does your initiative reach its target populations? What communications mechanism(s) do you have in place? How do you measure their impact? We target low-status defendants, their families and their friends. The creation of a compelling counter-narrative involves hundreds of hours of interviews with this target audience. In the process of this dialogue, Friends of Justice becomes familiar with the critical social facts usually ignored in criminal prosecutions. As we reconstruct the story in simple, cause-and-effect terms, the defendant begins to realize why they are being prosecuted, why the case is unacceptably weak, and why a sober and objective evaluation of all pertinent facts suggests that the case should never have been prosecuted in the first place. Of course, if the fruits of our investigation suggests that the prosecution has a strong case there is no basis for an intervention. Friends of Justice works with defendants who, apart from their lack of social status, would never be prosecutred and could never be convicted. In cases of this nature, a simple rise in perceived social status restores due process protections and makes it virtually impossible for the prosecution to proceed or for convictions to stand. In the process, we create "scandals" ready-made for the media. Since the behavior of unethical prosecution cannot stand in the face of scrutiny, prosecutors are forced to re-evaluate their behavior or risk becoming the targets of public outcry. In Lafayette, Louisiana, for instance, an innocent housewife and her three sons (all married and gainfully employed) were accused of participating in a ten-year conspiracy to distribute crack cocaine. The only evidence presented against them was the testimony of thirty federal inmate witnesses who were rewarded with five-year time cuts in return for their testimony. Our research made it clear that none of these men was telling the truth. When it became evident that "perjury mills" were flourishing in the federal prison system all charges against this family were dropped and an investigation ensued. Success is exoneration.
Key Operational Partnerships - What key partnerships have you established to make your model possible or more efficient? Who are your partners (business, social, government, other) and what are their roles? How central are these partnerships for your initiative. Although Friends of Justice is virtually the only group willing to intervene on behalf of anonymous, low-status defendants at the pre-trial stage, we create the conditions that change the equation for high-profile attorneys, advocacy groups and the media. The productions of a carefully researched counter-narrative creates media interest. Media interest (real or imagined), especially at the national level, brings name-brand advocacy groups to the table. The involvement of these organizations creates additional media interest which, in turn, makes the case in question much more "sellable" to high-profile pro bono attorneys who rarely take on low-status clients unless they sense that a civil rights lawsuit or positive publicity is in the offing. Friends of Justice realizes that we need to bring the media, brand name advocacy groups and effective legal representation to the table if our scandal-producing strategy is to be fully effective. For this reason we carefully cultivate our relationships with journalists, the leadership of advocacy organizations like the NAACP and the ACLU (at both the state and national levels) and influential members of the legal profession.
Financial Model - Which mechanisms do you have in place to ensure that your beneficiaries can afford your products or services? Do you have financial schemes or arrangements for low-income and marginalized populations? Friends of Justice doesn't charge for its services. Low-status defendants are vulnerable precisely because they are too poor to afford the services of potential saviors and generally too uneducated to grasp hold of the levers of power. We work exclusively with low-income and marginalized populations, providing them with the status that normally comes with income and education. This means that Friends of Justice must obtain support from private individuals, philanthropists and foundations.
Effectiveness - What has been the concrete impact of your project to date? How many people have benefited from your program in total? What policies, communities, or institutions have been influenced to make fundamental changes because of your work? As noted earlier, our work in Tulia led directly to the exoneration of forty-seven people and the disbanding of the 50 regional narcotics task forces (RNTFs) functioning in the state of Texas (all of them dependant on the use of uncorroborated testimony from unreliable witnesses). Indirectly, a Tulia Bill passed by the Texas legislature led directly to the discovery of a major scandal in Dallas in which rogue police officers and unscrupulous confidential informants were using fake drugs (pool chalk) to convict innocent Mexican Nationals. More recently, due to Friends of Justice intervention, a Lousiana mother and her three of her sons were exonerated in a case involving the misuse of inmate "snitch" witnesses in federal conspiracy prosecutions. This case, which is gradually gaining the attention of the national media, uncovered the alarming fact that federal inmates are buying and selling identifying information on potential narcotics defendants. This market is fueled by the fact that most of these inmates are serving multi-decade sentences without parole and can only reduce their terms by offering "substantial assistance" to the government. This has created a situation in which low-status defendants would inevitably be convicted. Friends of Justice is currently working on a case in Jena, Lousiana in which white students placed nooses in a tree in a schoolyard after black students asked if, counter to prevailing custom, they could sit under that tree. After a school fire and a weekend of white-initiated racial violence, a white boy was attacked at school. His alleged attackers have been charged with crimes that could easily place them in prison for fifty years without parole--none of the young people involved in the white-initiated racial incidents have been charged at all. Thanks to Friends of Justice outreach, the British Broadcasting Corporation and the Chicago Tribune are currently covering this story.
Scaling up Strategy - What is your priority for the next 3 years and please describe why. During the next 12 months, Friends of Justice plans to relocate from tiny Tulia, Texas to a major population center--most likely in Texas. We plan to find office space, possibly in a cooperative relationship with a university. Our plan for 2008 is to hire two college-educated interns who feel drawn to the work we do. Since a first-year school teacher in Dallas earns $43,000 we fell we will have to pay at least that much to attract highly qualified, trainable candidates. During 2008 and 2009, these interns will receive hands-on, in-the-field training from Friends of Justice Executive Director Alan Bean. They will learn the basics of the criminal justice system, the ABCs of amateur legal research, the principles of cultural sensitivity and trust building, interview techniques, the effective use of a camera, networking media outreach skills, community organizing techniques and, above all, how to produce a tight, compelling, defendant-friendly and accurate counter-narrative. In 2009, we hope to hire a part-time development director who would also be responsible for bookkeeping.
Origin of the Initiative - Tell the personal story that will help people connect to your work. How did the initiative start? Was there a particular individual or event driving the idea? Tell the reader the story behind the innovation. When Nancy and Alan Bean arrived in little Tulia, Texas in 1998, Nancy was a school teacher and Alan was a Protestant minister. We had lived mostly in predominently white, middle class communities and worked with white, middle class congregations. As such, we were effectively insulated from the realities of low-status life in America. Our advocacy on behalf of the Tulia defendants shattered our comfortable assumption that the criminal justice system was basically fair. We also learned that, although African Americans are victimized by the problems outlined about in grossly disproportionate ways, it is lack of status rather than skin color that makes people vulnerable to wrongful conviction and the loss of due process. Although our work has been difficult to fund, we feel strongly that we have a personal obligation to expand our efforts.
Main Obstacles to Scaling Up - List the two (2) main obstacles to scale up your innovation (policy, legal, organizational, people, financial, etc.)? The primary obstacle to scaling up Operation Blind Justice is financial; but our funding challenge is rooted in public perception. Most Americans, even those on the liberal side of the political spectrum, give little thought to the plight of low-status defendants. Even those who understand the problem seem convinced that the answer lies in funding advocacy groups and providing more money for indigent defense--it is rarely suggested that a new, essentially extra-legal strategy is required. Moreover, judges, prosecutors and court appointed attorneys are generally over-worked public servants who believe they are behaving as justly as their circumstances allow. These public officials resent blanket criticisms of "the system", especially the suggestion that they are complicit in some kind of racist conspiracy against black people. But so long as no one points the finger at specific instances of injustice, nothing will change. Critiquing the system on the basis of statistical analysis, as a single, stand-alone policy, will not be sufficient. We need simple, compelling, concrete stories that demonstrate precisely how and why the system has gone astray.
Main Partnership Challenges - What are your major challenges with partnerships? (E.g., identification of partners, implementation of partnerships, relationship management, etc.) After six years of criminal justice reform work, Friends of Justice has established excellent working relationships with coalition partners and journalists. Our major challenge with potential coalition partners is logistical: their mission statements often preclude the kind of pre-trial intervention Friends of Justice employs. Moreover, the internal funding mechanisms our allies must work with make it hard for our partners to access funds for the kind of work Friends of Justice is involved in. For a host of logistical reasons, it is practically impossible for coalition partners to channel funding to Friends of Justice even when there is a strong desire to do so. In the past, there was a tendency for cooperating organizations to avoid involvement until the media showed an interest. Then, the moment a case generated media, our allies would suggest that they had been on the ground from the outset. In other words, media coverage has rarely highlighted the importance of grass roots community organizing--the specialty of Friends of Justice. More recently, however, our growing savvy and improved communication techniques have minimized this problem.
Contact Information:
Alan Bean
Executive Director Friends of Justice (criminal justice reform organization) Discussions about this entry |
Operation Blind Justice
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Hello,
My name is Rich Gottbreht from Global Insights and I am one of the entrants in the competition. Our work centers on helping anyone concerned about corruption learn about the subject through my book, our board game and its associated seminars, as well as low cost consulting. To find out more about us please visit our website www.globalinsights.biz. From the home page, you can link to information about us, our products and what people say about our products and services. From the details in the initiative we submitted you should also note that some of the proceeds from our sales will eventually go to a high integrity leadership development foundation. Also, if you are interested, down the road we will be looking for alliances and contacts in every country.
Thanks,
Rich Gottbreht
This sounds like an excellent initiative that responds to a critical need. However, the connection with corruption is not at all obvious. The proposal identifies a systemic bias in US justice administration, with low-status defendants bearing the brunt. This seems be motivated by some combination of prosecutorial ambition, the political gains to be had by showing a ‘tough’ criminal justice record, and failures or irregularities in procedure that leave low-status defendants helpless. We can all agree that this is a terrible situation, unjust and unfair. But where is the corruption? Is the contention that the existence of such a situation IS corrupt? This would make corruption equivalent to any undesirable political or administrative result – which robs the term of the meaning it is usually given. In the literature, corruption is normally defined as the abuse of public office or authority for private gain. Where is the abuse, and where is the gain? There may be an argument that the situation is corrupt or arises from corruption, but the argument is not made in the proposal. In general the proposal is sound, but for purposes of this competition, the nexus with corruption needs to be identified.
I agree on the importance of a clear definition for corruption. I think the work of Friends of Justice is fighting corruption, because these problems in the US criminal justice system are the result of public officials like prosecutors and police putting themselves above the law in ways that undermine the basic rule of law. We're talking about prosecutors and police turning a blind eye to systematic perjury. We have "perjury mills" in the federal prison system: prisoners pay money on the black market to find out information about people that the government wants to prosecute, so that they can invent false testimony against them. Our prosecutors and most likely our police are now complicit in this black market. This is clearly corruption. At this point, we don't have prosecutors or police being paid directly to determine a legal outcome, but we do have a black market in perjury that the prosecutors are complicit in. Though the US as a whole has a strong rule of law, there are pockets of the US where this rule of law has simply broken down, where public officials don't have to observe the rules. And though public officials aren't using the system to line their pockets, they are using the system to eliminate poor black people from the streets without due process. Personally, that's far more disturbing to me.
Thank you for the comprehensive explanation of your model. Your approach is unique- in its depth, strategic partnerships and the intensity of collaboration with families and communities of low-status defendents. All power to you!
Your strategy of developing highly researched, credible, counter narratives would be relevant for human rights groups around the world that are fighting to clean up criminal justice systems and anti-poor policies.
Take India for example - New Delhi has the world's only Beggar's Court where everyday hundreds of homeless people, street children, wanderers with mental illnesses, small vendors, garbage pickers etc get picked up in police vans and dumped in the precincts of the Beggar's Court. Before they know it, they are stamped as criminals and have to prove their innocence before a judge. If unsucceful, they are incarcerated in the Beggars Home or as inmates of the prisons of Delhi. The Bombay Prevention of Begging Act has declared begging as a criminal offence and many of these "low status" or "no status" defendents at the Beggar's Court may have never ever begged for a living. This law criminalizes poverty, and makes the poor responsible for their situation.
Ofcourse there are human rights groups and lawyers across India campaigning, providing services, working with the media etc to reveal many such anti-poor scandals. I am sure that your approach could add to their arsenal of strategies. You may want to contact Ashoka Fellow Rajat Mitra in Delhi for possible collaborations. You could access his e-mail address and profile from www.ashoka.org
As an outsider to the American justice system, I would also like to better understand what fuels the perjury mills inside prisons and courts of Texas? What triggers law enforcers and the criminal justice system to continually incarcerate low-status citizens? This could ofcourse be a function a deeper racial conspiracy... but I would appreciate some more analysis from you. If there is related content on websites or readings on the net that you could guide me to - that would be great!
About scale of your program - a question and a suggestion. The question first: You have mentioned that the counter narratives approach would grow with more investigators being trained. Have you attempted to incorporate this approach into the curriculum of law schools in the country? If yes, what has been your experience, barriers etc with academic institutions that are training grounds for high-profile attorneys and advocacy groups of the country?
The suggestion : It is clear that Friends of Justice has developed a great blueprint - an adaptive blueprint that could be easily incorporated into the work of many US and international groups. You may want to contact Nathan Cryder, Executive Director of Global Gain, a newly-established organization that is looking to support innovative Adaptive Blueprints to spread dramatically.
Dear Manisha,
That is an excellent suggestion to incorporate this approach into the curriculum of law schools. This is a great need right now, but there are barriers. Friends of Justice presented its model of extra-legal intervention at Harvard Law School in the spring of 2006, which was a start. I know that Lani Guinier and Gerald Torres, at Harvard Law and UT Austin, are starting an initiative to train lawyers in the importance of narrative and working with civil society as they advance a public interest legal agenda. But it is hard--lawyers are protective of their turf, like all professionals, and it is hard to convince lawyers that you have something to contribute to the curriculum if you yourself are not trained as a lawyer (I am a sociologist by trade, and the director of Friends of Justice is an ordained Baptist minister.)
I think the way forward is for leaders in public interest law and influential lawyers, who have the right legal certifications, to promote the importance of this approach from the inside, to give us legal outsiders an entry to provide a fresh perspective. I am hoping to work with law professors at Harvard Law School to invite this kind of collaboration with organizations like Friends of Justice, to rethink how we train lawyers to strategize for social change. If you know any lawyers or law professors who are interested in such a collaboration, or developing curriculum, please put them in touch with me! This is the very project that I plan to turn to in the next three years.
It is common for non-profits in search of funding to research the "hot" issues that seem to be attracting a lot of funding and shaping a mission statement around precisely those issues. This is savvy marketing but it doesn't always produce effective advocacy. Friends of Justice stumbled across an issue we didn't know existed and have decided to live with the consequences even though our chosen issue isn't commonly viewed as a problem. It is often difficult to make our work fit the grant making criteria published by the usual suspects in the foundation world, so it has been a pleasure to tell you what we do, why it is effective, and why it matters.