Public defenders have verbally abused clients of color during first meetings

Evidence

During her time at the Chicago public defender’s office, Andrea overheard a conversation in a courtroom lockup between another public defender, whom we are calling Paul, and Paul’s client. Paul was frustrated that his client, a Black male, would not accept a plea deal that had been offered. During this meeting, which was the first meeting between Paul and his client, Paul yelled at the young man. He called him stupid. He told him that he would “do six [years] standing on his head.” And he said much worse. — Joseph Avery, Jim Sidanius, Joel Cooper, Gregory Davis, Amanda N., Bias in the Law, 698

During her time at the Chicago public defender’s office, Andrea overheard a conversation in a courtroom lockup between another public defender, whom we are calling Paul, and Paul’s client. Paul was frustrated that his client, a Black male, would not accept a plea deal that had been offered. During this meeting, which was the first meeting between Paul and his client, Paul yelled at the young man. He called him stupid. He told him that he would “do six [years] standing on his head.” And he said much worse. — Joseph Avery, Jim Sidanius, Joel Cooper, Gregory Davis, Amanda N., Bias in the Law, 698

Categorization

• XREF: Concrete instance of the distrust described in paragraph 693: the optics of the system generate exactly the client distrust the attorney’s behavior then confirms.
• corroborated: 3 independent passages support this claim — Joseph Avery, Jim Sidanius, Joel Cooper, Gregory Davis, Amanda N., Bias in the Law: A Definitive Look at…, 698