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Answers from the Front Lines
While Americans worry about (1) money issues (inflation, healthcare costs) and
(2) safety, no one is comprehensively fixing the 182 billion dollar criminal justice system, which is a huge drag across all sectors of our economy and does little for community safety. We are the world’s largest jailer, and 60% of those incarcerated are people of color.
What do we get for this price? Higher taxes and little safety from crime and disorder. After 40+ years of legal practice in the criminal justice system, I know the levers to fix our flawed system. We need to work smarter and spend precious resources where they will do the most good.
In my next book, Fixing Legal Injustice in America: The Case for a Defender General of the United States, I propose bipartisan solutions to lower the cost of criminal justice and increase safety. Both blue and red states have passed criminal justice reform laws – it’s a bipartisan issue – but disparate state laws create an uneven patchwork of reforms and they do not address the systemic discrimination, which we cannot fix by partial measures.
Here are 4 cost and safety drivers a Defender General could affect:
1. Police misconduct settlements in 25 of the largest police and sheriff’s departments spent more than $3.2 billion to resolve claims of police misconduct over the past 10 years with nearly half arising from officers who are repeat offenders.
2. Underfunding public defenders produces years of costly appeals from limited trial preparation time.
3. WE know that tough on crime strategies and the death penalty do not deter crime. Wrongful (death) convictions and appeals, cost hundreds of thousands of dollars; we pay for appeals and then compensation to the wrongfully convicted in taxes.
4. Some states, like Illinois, have stopped executing people because of the cost and the moral uncertainty of a wrongful conviction. To date, there have been 3036 exonerations representing 26,700 life years lost. When the innocent are imprisoned, the real criminals are in your community.
I hope you will read my book, contact your representatives, and join this important discussion about our democracy. We owe our families and our children a safer future.
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Ms. Lyon is available for commentary and information and is willing to share other sources you may wish to contact. She is currently booking media appearances.
Appointments, Appearances
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NACDL Committee on the Criminalization of Pregnancy & Reproductive Health;
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May 9, 2022 7:30 p.m., new book discussion with Gov. George Ryan; Until I could Be Sure: How I stopped the Death Penalty in Illinois;
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May 20 - 21, 2022 the Thedford Seminar, "How to Try a Confession Case"
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Sunday July 10, 2022 3:15 p.m. at WGN radio with Karen Conti, Interview with the Angel of Death Row;
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Friday, July 15, 2022 NCDD, 10:50 a.m. "Acting for DUI Lawyers";
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August 12, 2022 NACDL CONF. Palm Beach, 11:30 a.m. "Closing Arguments That are Mesmerizing and Memorable", and Book Signing at 12:30 p.m.
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Monday August 15, 2022 11:20 a.m. WBEZ Reset with Sasha-Ann Simmons
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